Twisted Reality (CANCELLED)
by Sunset-Peril
Summary: A year after the defeat of the Empire, Mobius has finally returned to peace. However, as the years return to the dates of that fateful conflict in Mobian history, a new entity from the realm of the Phantom Ruby creeps just within distance of emerging into a reconstructed Mobius. Book written jointly with user JustThatOneFox. Contains slight coarse language due to this co-op.
1. Prologue

**_Prologue_**

One year has passed since the defeat of Infinite, and the world has finally managed to get back on its feet. City blocks that were decimated became new homes, skyscrapers now rose even higher than before, and ecosystems were brought back to their original states. The rebellion that stood firm at the hands of the enemy was now being dismantled. Much of the soldiers went on with their normal lives, others stayed in the military, and some seemingly went off grid. Either way, society was finally at peace.

But somewhere else, an evil genius was hard at work on a new plan for world domination.

"Yes, the mechanism is nearing perfection! I just need to apply a few more adjustments to it and all should go according to plan!"

It was unbelievable to think that Eggman would go back to his schemes just one year after his massive defeat. As Eggman continued to finalize his work, a pair of two iconic robots came into the room.

"Excuse me, Doctor, could you please explain to us as to why this machine will help improve your current situation?", Orbot asked.

Eggman turned his head towards the two of them.

"Ah, Orbot and Cubot, how timely of you two. In just a moment, you shall witness science on a scale you have never seen before!" he exclaimed.

Cubot though couldn't quite grasp the idea.

"So you built a small, indoor laser that is meant to take over the world?", Cubot plainly stated.

Eggman groaned in frustration.

"NO you imbecile!", Eggman yelled harshly at Cubot. "It was designed to be this exact size, and to further answer your question, this delicate piece of machinery was never meant to harm anyone at all!"

Orbot and Cubot looked at each other with visible confusion.

"Did the Doctor actually say it wasn't meant to harm anybody?", Orbot said.

"Yeah, and that would be a first!", Cubot added.

Eggman could hardly stand the two of them talking, so he continued to finish his work.

"Alright, now for the key installation…" Then Eggman reveals a somewhat shattered red shard of glass.

"Uh, Doc, how's that piece of glass gonna help ya?", Cubot asked.

Now Eggman was really losing patience with the incompetent robot, but he managed to keep calm and went on to answer.

"This is no ordinary shard of glass, my friends. What I have here is one of the last remaining shards of the Phantom Ruby!" Eggman chuckled slightly to himself.

Eggman turned towards his master computer and pulled up a file on the Phantom Ruby's properties.

"Now as you can see, the Phantom Ruby was never part of this dimension to begin with. Instead, this gem came from a much more distant realm than ours."

Orbot and Cubot were now on the edge of their seats with this theory, and they now understood what Eggman was trying to accomplish.

"So Doctor, this device isn't a weapon?", Orbot asked. "But perhaps is instead a key to opening another dimension?"

Eggman nodded in approval at Orbot's question. "Why yes Orbot, this machine will allow me to pinpoint the dimension of where the Phantom Ruby had to originate from, and should open a gateway to that same dimension."

Eggman then revealed a wicked smile that only evil geniuses would demonstrate. "If this experiment is a success and I manage to harness the power of the Phantom Ruby's dimension, then there will be no one who could possibly stop me! Nyah ha ha ha!"

The two robots looked at each other, wondering if the Doctor had gone mad from his last great failure.

"Now then, time for the moment of truth…" Eggman said to himself.

Eggman inserted the shard into the machine, and walked over to the main console. Eggman most likely knew the experiment could go either two ways: Either it would be a success or the whole lab is blown to pieces. (Eggman preferably wished for the success) With the press of just a few buttons, the machine began to whir to life. Sparks flew in all sorts of directions as energy was being built up within the core. Eggman and his two minions studied from a distance, aweing at the sight.

The machine grew louder, and from the front of the machine something was beginning to appear. A sort of red, glowing electricity was building. Eggman could only anticipate what would happen next. Then just like that, a powerful beam of energy shot out of the cannon at light speed. Literally. The sound was so loud that it frightened the two robots, forcing them to hide elsewhere. But Eggman stayed fixed right where he was. He just simply couldn't take his eyes off it.

At the point where the wall and beam of energy met, an amazing phenomenon was taking place. A gap began to open within the wall, and it only grew larger from there. Within seconds, the gap/portal was seemingly the size of your average human/Mobian. Eggman satisfied with the results, turned off the machine, and walked closer to the red portal within the room.

"My God… It worked. The machine was a success! Ha ha!", Eggman shouted with triumph.

Though the ones who were not so thrilled would be Orbot and Cubot, who were visibly shaking right in front of Eggman. Eggman frowned upon the two.

"Oh cut it out will you? It's not like the weapon would've vaporized you or anything."

But clearly Cubot couldn't handle the pressure, and quite literally, his head exploded. Eggman and Orbot were startled by it, but they both knew that this happens on occasion with Cubot.

"Orbot, please go fix Cubot, that's the third time this week that's happened!" Eggman ordered. Orbot simply nodded and carried his cube-shaped brother to the repair room.

Eggman turns to face towards his new creation. "Computer?"

His computer answered, "Yes, Doctor?"

"I want you to begin diagnostics on the portal, and please obtain as much information you possibly can." Eggman said.

With that analysis began on the portal, and slowly data was being collected. Eggman sat down in his chair, still observing the portal from a distance. For an entire year, he has been hiding from the world. But soon, he will emerge once again and this time no one will be able to stop him. Eggman gazed at a screen of that damned blue hedgehog.

"Soon Sonic, once I have gathered enough power, I will destroy everything that you care about. Not even your friends would even make it through my onslaught."

Eggman clenched his left hand.

"With the discovery of the Phantom Realm, I will have the power to conquer not only Mobius, but perhaps the entire universe itself! Nyah ha ha ha!"

As Eggman continued to laugh and chortle to himself, he failed to see something that could have dire consequences. He never even gave the thought of what could possibly be on the other side of the portal. If he had only looked closer at the surface, he would have noticed that there was a dark, gloomy shadow lurking on the other side.


	2. The Invitation

It was another brand new day in Mobius, and everybody out in the world was living their lives in peace. No Infinite, no Eggman, no nothing. It really did feel like a dream that turned into a reality. Of course, there was one certain individual who was enjoying himself the most.

"YA-HOO!" Sonic shouted in excitement as he blasted his way through the open plains of Green Hill.

He never felt so alive and free at the same time. With Eggman out of everyone's hair, there was nothing to worry about at all. This meant that the cobalt hedgehog had more free time on his hands than he could ever imagine.

"Man, who knew that getting rid of Egghead would be this great?!" Sonic shouted.

Without giving any thought, Sonic quickly scaled one of the mountains within the area and reached the top within seconds. He sat down on the edge of the rocky cliff and took in the view.

"Holy cow…" Sonic said as he awed at the view.

The cascading waterfalls, the checkered landscapes, the green palm trees, it truly was a sight for sore eyes. It was moments like these that Sonic was never truly able to enjoy, all because he was busy saving the world and trashing crummy robots. But now with Eggman gone, he had all the time in the world.

"If this is how things are going to be from now on, I could definitely get used to it.", Sonic said with a wide smile.

_***BZZT***_

Sonic suddenly felt a slight jolt on his left arm. He checked and was greeted with the sight of his communication wrist band. His old pal Tails made it for him a year ago during the war as a means to communicate much easier with fellow soldiers and other friends he knew.

_***BZZT* "Come in Sonic, do you read me?"**_

Sonic instantly knew who the voice was and replied right away.

"Tails, just the bro I wanted to talk to! How's it going?"

"Great, Sonic! I've never been better." Tails replied over the communicator. "Sonic, how come I haven't heard from you these past couple of days?"

Sonic laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head.

"Well… I may have been a bit busy exploring and running, and you know how easily I get sidetracked, heh heh."

Tails laughed. "Yeah I can definitely understand where you're coming from Sonic. Oh and Sonic, I nearly forgot to mention something important to you!"

"Well Tails, lay it on me. What's the message?" Sonic asked.

"So Sonic, you know how the anniversary of the end of the war is in a few days?" Tails said.

Tails sounded like he was rustling paper on the other end of the communicator.

"Well apparently me, you, our friends and others, are all invited to this event called 'A Rebel Reunion.'"

Sonic had nearly forgotten that the war had only ended just about a year ago.

"Darn, I didn't realize that much time has flown by. And an event you say, huh?"

Sonic took the idea into consideration.

"Well, I wouldn't mind seeing a familiar faces for just a day. So yeah, I'll be there in no time pal!" And with that said, Sonic blasted off at the speed of sound, heading off to wherever it was he needed to go.

Tails was delighted to hear that Sonic actually agreed to go to the event. "That's great, Sonic! But when do you think you will ge-" Tails didn't even get the chance to finish his sentence when he heard familiar gust of wind behind him.

"So, what did I miss?" Sonic jokingly said.

"Sonic!" Tails gaped at the fact that Sonic was already next to him. "Wow, I didn't think you would get here that quick." Tails said with an astonished face.

Sonic laughed at his little brother's comment.

"Tails, you're looking at the Fastest Thing Alive, of course I'm going to get here quick." Sonic said.

They each gave each other high-fives and pats on the back, then Tails brought the event back into their conversation.

"Ok Sonic, so the event is in a couple days. However, there are a few requirements to attend it."

Sonic looked at his bud with confusion, and then frowned. Sonic always disliked requirements, it never really made anything fun for him.

"Jeez requirements, at a **party**? C'mon seriously?" Sonic whined.

Tails looked at the list and read aloud. "Well, it says here that **all** guests are required to dress formally. Which in other words, wear a suit and tie." Tails didn't have an issue with it, but Sonic definitely did.

"What, are you kidding me?! I run all the way back here just to find out that its a formal party? Man, these people don't know how to have fun at all."

Sonic was clearly not happy at all, and Tails of all people expected this to happen. So Tails, being the responsible little genius he was, decided to reason with Sonic.

"C'mon Sonic, it can't be that bad. All you would really have to do is just wear a fancy suit, and you can still party if you would like." Tails said.

But still, Sonic was unhappy with what the piece of paper demanded from him.

"Whyyyyy…." Sonic groaned in frustration. "How do you expect me to dance or move around in a tuxedo, Tails?"

All Tails could do was facepalm himself.

"Ok Sonic, if all you had to wear was a bow tie, would you at least be alright with it?", Tails asked.

Sonic's face went from a frown to a slight grin when he heard Tails' suggestion.

"Well, I guess wearing a bow tie wouldn't be so ba-"

"Alright then it's settled. You will wear a bow tie to the event, and that's that." Tails said as he walked past Sonic.

All Sonic could do was just stare blankly at his little bro.

"What happened?" He looked and saw his friend was walking away.

"We have a couple days till the event Sonic, we might as well prepare ourselves now!" Tails shouted from the main room.

Sonic still didn't move from the lab though.

"There is no way that I'm getting ready for a party that's a few days away." Sonic pouted.

"We'll buy Chili Dogs after…" Tails added.

"Darn it...", Sonic said, and just like that Sonic quickly darted for the main room to get prepared.

_Meanwhile at Eggman's Laboratory…_

"Oh ho ho ho, these results are… exhilarating!", Eggman shouted. "Never before have I seen such a strange power source exhibit similar energies to that of the Chaos Emeralds, perhaps even the Master Emerald!"

Eggman was still studying everything he could about this dimensional hole that he created, and so far everything was going smoothly. He was getting results, calculating data, and compiling a mass amount of things. But of course, guess who just wonders on into the room to disturb Eggman.

"Ahoy, Doctor! I see you've made much progress, argh." Cubot said.

Eggman looked at Cubot with a puzzled expression.

"Erm, Orbot, why is Cubot acting like he's a pirate?" Eggman asked.

"Cubot unfortunately had an accident involving multiple heavy metallic objects falling on his head." Orbot simply stated.

Eggman was baffled at the answer.

"What in the- How did that even- I don't have time to deal with both of your incompetence!" Eggman shouted at the two robots. "Now leave me, so that I may work in peace!" and Eggman resumed his work.

"How rude, if I may say." Orbot said.

"Yargh, a real pain he is." Cubot added.

So the duo left the Doctor to continue his work without interruptions. The sound of sliding doors could be heard opening and closing, and Eggman took a quick glance to make sure they were gone.

"Hmph, good riddance." Eggman said.

_**"Ivo…"**_ an eerie voice spoke from the unknown.

Eggman suddenly stopped whatever he was doing and frantically looked around.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Eggman yelled.

He whipped out one of his pocket weapons that he had on hand and carefully aimed in a multitude of directions, searching for the culprit. But to his avail, there was no one in sight.

"I... must have been me imagining things." Eggman said as he lowered his weapon.

Eggman swore he heard something, but decided to brush it off and continue his work. But unknown to his knowledge, that same eerie voice came from the Phantom Realm. Still though, the voice seemingly didn't belong to a person. What is this mysterious figure, and what does it even want with Eggman?


	3. Preparations and Annoyances

"Tails, why do I have to be dragged along to the mall?" Sonic said in an annoyed voice.

"Because, Sonic, we need to look our best for this occasion. Well, at least me." Tails said.

Tails believed it would've been a great idea to have his bud Sonic tag along with him, but now he was really starting to regret his decision. The two approached the front door to the mall and walked inside.

Inside the mall there were tons of Mobians all throughout the individual stores and halls. Sonic and Tails were both gaping at the immense size of the shopping center.

"Well, let's start looking for suits for us-erm, I mean me.'' Tails said.

Sonic never liked shopping, in fact he had nightmares about it. Sonic still remembers the time he was forced to go shopping with Amy, all because he made some stupid promise to her. Sonic visibly cringed at the thought as he forced the idea into the back of his mind.

Tails kept searching for suits until he finally found what he was looking for.

"Ah, here we go! This is the area for suits."

Tails then turned to his blue brother.

"Alright Sonic, I'll go ahead and find me the right suit, get you a bow tie, and we should be out of here in no time!" he said. "Just wait right here, okay?

"Wait? Oh crud, I hate waiting..." Sonic said with disappointment.

So Sonic took a seat on a nearby chair and waited for his two tailed friend to finish. Sonic leaned back and crossed his arms behind his head.

"Well, at least it can't get any worse." But boy was he wrong.

"OHHH SONIC!" a familiar voice yelled out to him.

Sonic's face turned to shock.

"Ohhh, I just **had** to say it…" Sonic groaned.

Out of all the possible places, he should've assumed that Amy would have been at the mall. So Sonic hunkered down and prepared for the worst.

"Well hi there, Sonic!" Amy happily said. "I wasn't expecting to see my favorite blue hedgie at the mall!" Amy giggled and sat right next to Sonic. "So… why are you here?"

Sonic, being the sensible hedgehog he was, slightly scooted away from Amy and then replied.

"Amy, please I am not in the mood to talk right now." Sonic said in an annoyed tone.

He was already forced to come to the mall for support, but why did Amy have to be there too? Even worse, Amy didn't even bother to stop talking to him. Typical.

"So Sonic, have you heard about the Rebel Reunion event that's coming up?" Amy asked.

Sonic sweated nervously when she asked that. Sonic just shook his head and replied back.

"Look Ames, I was never really on planning to go to the event anyway." Sonic grinned thinking he got away with the excuse.

"So then why are you with Tails buying suits and ties then?" Amy answered back.

Sonic was internally panicking; he had to keep thinking of excuses.

"Well, I uh, I'm just tagging along with Tails that's all." he smiled.

Amy looked at him and smiled back. "So you guys are going to the reunion, aren't you?"

Sonic just shook his head and just gave up, sighing loudly.

"Yes Amy, I'm going to the party…" Sonic muttered.

Amy screamed in joy and embraced the blue hero.

"I can't believe you're going too! Oh it would be so romantic if we went as a couple!" Amy said.

Sonic at this point was begging to be released. Every second that passed she was literally choking his air supply.

"H- Hey, Ames… let go- please."

Amy realized what she was doing and let him go, allowing Sonic to regain his breath.

"Sorry, I may have gotten carried away there." She said apologetically.

Sonic managed to catch his breath for just a few seconds.

"No harm done, Ames. Just go easy next time will you?" Sonic laughed a bit.

As the two were talking to each other, Tails walks in on the two.

"Hey Sonic, I got what we ne-" Tails dumbly looked at the two of them. "Uhh, is there something I should know?" he asked.

Sonic quickly got up before Tails said anything else.

"What? No, there's nothing going on here." Sonic said nervously.

Tails just rolled his eyes. It was the same old thing: Sonic doing his best to just stay away from Amy at all costs.

"Yeah, sure Sonic. Oh and Amy, it's great to see you but me and Sonic have to get ready for the big event tonight." Tails said.

"Ah jeez, finally! Let's get out of here, right bud?" Sonic cheerfully said, fist bumping with Tails.

Sonic was just happy to be finally leaving the mall and Amy at the same time. As the duo was leaving, Tails looked back and waved Amy goodbye.

"We'll see you and everyone else at the party then!" Tails shouted to Amy.

Amy simply waved goodbye, knowing that she'll see Sonic at the party. She smiled and went on her own way.

Back at Tails' Place

"Phew, I'm glad that's over." Sonic said with relief. "I was beginning to believe that I would never get out of that place, ha ha!"

Tails placed down his bags and took out the suits.

"Well Sonic, what do you think of this for the party?" Tails asked.

Sonic took a good look at the suit Tails presented before him.

"Man, looking good Tails!" Sonic gave a thumbs up to his two-tailed friend.

"All the girls will be chasing after you in that party, pal!" Sonic complimented.

Tails turned red with embarrassment at Sonic's comment.

Tails shook it off and turned the conversation around.

"Let's not forget you Sonic. I got you something that may fit your needs."

Tails proceeded to show Sonic what appeared to be a Tuxedo, but without any pants.

"Uh, Tails? What the heck is this supposed to be? I thought I was only wearing a tie or something?" Sonic questioned his pal.

Tails grinned.

"Well I can't always tell you the truth right? It's either you wear this and still feel comfortable, or don't go at all. Your choice Sonic."

"Ugh, are you kidding me Tails?" Sonic groaned in frustration.

He really didn't want to wear anything, but at least it was only a jacket. And so he decided to come to an agreement with Tails.

"Alright bud, I'll wear it." Sonic said.

Tails' face lit up and he happily gave Sonic the jacket. Sonic put on the jacket and from the looks of it, Sonic was rocking the look.

"Do I look like a stud or what, Tails?" Sonic asked.

Tails looked for a second and approved.

"Yeah, it suits you Sonic!" Tails replied back.

Sonic did one of his trademark poses and said the following with a confident smirk.

"Well Tails, are we going to head to this reunion or what?" Sonic said.

"Alright! Let's do it!" Tails answered.

So the two heroes darted for their rooms, and prepared for the big event.


	4. A Rebel Reunion

Tonight was the big night. Sonic and Tails were just about ready to head out to the event.

"Ok, Sonic, I'm all set and ready to go." Tails said.

He looked upstairs and wondered what was taking his friend so long to finish up.

"C'mon Sonic what's taking you so long? I thought you were 'The Fastest Thing Alive', what gives?" Tails shouted to Sonic.

"ONE SECOND, TAILS!"

Just in the nick of time, Sonic came sliding down the staircase and plopped himself right in front of his bud, Tails.

"Man, I wasn't expecting to look so damn good in this suit." Sonic said as he complimented himself.

Tails just rolled his eyes, and he opened the door.

"Alright then Sonic, let's get going." Tails said. And just like that, they were both out the door and on their way to the event.

_A Few Moments Later…_

Tails pushed the door open to the event center, as the planners of the event decided that hosting the reunion in the former Resistance HQ would awaken too many horrific memories of the war, he and Sonic walked in to instantly find familiar faces crowding the interior area.

"Wow, it seems that everyone showed up."

"Ugh, how am I gonna run around in here?" Sonic whined, much to Tails' immediate displeasure.

"You're not being held back Sonic. You can move, dance, and socialize with anyone you want." Tails said.

Sonic groaned as a green rush flew past them, followed by a slightly smaller cream-white blur.

"Ha! Nice hussle, Mallory! Not bad for racing an agent!"

Two birds, a male and a female, landed and high-fived. The male was a light green falcon, who wore an armband with the Resistance logo emblazoned on it as well as a nice suit that was somewhere between a tuxedo and a t-shirt, his formality knocked down by his rebel armband.

The female was a beautifully cream-white dove, sparkling with purity and light-heartedness. She wore a beautiful teal, glittery gown, looking much more regal than her companion.

"Hi, Tussle! Didn't expect to see you here, Mallory." Tails greeted them openly.

"Well, of course she'd be here! She's our **therapist**, wisps alive! We're not going to bombard her with **all** our mental illnesses and issues and **not** invite her to our party, are we?"

Mallory giggled, Tussle's grammar tended to get a little messy when he got passionate about something, especially issues concerning respect.

"Settle down, Tussle…" She reached over and stroked his shoulder with her gentle feathers. "We've got a whole night ahead of us, don't get fired up this early and ruin it." She then glanced backwards and then smiled a little bit brighter as she turned back to the falcon. "Race you to the food and drinks."

Tussle beamed and shot up into the air, then him and Mallory flew off towards the food and bar station, nearly bulldozing a familiar red couple. Gadget and Nadia.

"Hey! Watch it, Tussle!" Gadget snapped. "She's still healing!"

Although Sonic and Tails couldn't hear it, Tails knew the Alpha was snarling. "Uh-oh, we might wanna go check on him."

"Yeah, let's go drop in on Gadget and see what he's up to." Sonic added.

Tails smiled as he walked over to the wolves.

Gadget was wearing a very nice suit and grey tie, as well as the fact that he had obviously taken his glasses somewhere to be cleaned, which would have made him look extremely professional, had he not had a huge scowl on his face.

Nadia peeked out shyly from behind him, she wore a stunning off-shoulder blue-purple dress with highly thin ends. White spirals danced up her sleeves and her torso, attracting the attention of almost every single male in the building, the few exceptions being the people who had enough common sense to know that she belonged to Gadget. A translucent tube ran from a grey-black box attached to the fabric near her hips to a translucent mint green oxygen mask that covered her delicate muzzle.

"Well, well, well, if it ain't the rookie!" Sonic said to Gadget. "Long time no see, right?"

Gadget turned and saw Sonic and Tails.

"No way, Sonic and Tails! Guys, it has felt like ages that I haven't seen you guys at all!" Gadget was way too flustered by the pure joy of seeing his friends. "Wh-what are you guys doing here?"

"Oh you know, just saying hi and partying is all." Sonic simply replied.

Nadia, who was still shy of strangers, hid quietly behind Gadget. Unfortunately for Nadia, Tails noticed her.

"Hey Gadget?" Tails asked. "Who is your new friend?"

Gadget turned and looked at Nadia's innocent and scared face.

"Oh, this here is Nadia, my girlfriend." Gadget answered.

Both Sonic and Tails' jaws dropped wide open when they heard this. Tails was baffled; Gadget, of all Mobians, had a girlfriend. Sonic was just standing there, smirking and nodding his head in approval.

"Damn Gadget, I didn't think you had it in ya!" Sonic said to his red ally.

Gadget smiled and laughed at Sonic's comment. "Well, anything can happen right?" Gadget rhetorically said.

"So, how did you guys meet?" Sonic asked.

Gadget rubbed the back of his head as he thought of what to say.

"Well, it's a long story, that's for sure. I'll be sure to tell you some other time, alright?" Gadget answered.

"No problem man." Sonic answered back.

"Hey guys?" Tails said.

Sonic and the Wolf couple turned their faces towards Tails.

"Did anyone want to try dancing?" Tails asked everyone.

In an instant, Sonic ran to the center of the room, and started to show off all of his dance moves. (Which in fact were totally awesome.)

"I'm way ahead of you, Tails!" Sonic shouted from the dance floor.

The whole crowd was cheering on Sonic as he kept dancing like a pro. All the while Tails, Gadget and Nadia were left to just watch.

"So much for doing things together, Haha!" Gadget said jokingly. He turned towards Nadia and held her hands."Let's go find something else to do, that sound good, Nadia?" Gadget said to his girlfriend. Nadia nodded in response.

"Hey Tails, me and Nadia will catch up with you later, is that alright with you?" Gadget asked him.

Tails was still quite stunned upon the hardy alpha and the young she-wolf that clinged to him, but he recovered enough to respond.

"Yeah, you guys go ahead, me and Sonic will see you guys later." Tails said to them.

"Alright, cya around Tails!" Gadget said to him as he walked away with Nadia.

Tails went ahead and took a seat at an unoccupied table. He looked around and recognized a couple of familiar faces. Knuckles was chatting with Mighty and Ray, Rouge was attempting to flirt with other guys, and the Chaotix crew was dancing like no tomorrow. Only poor Tails was left out with no one to hang out with.

Tails sighed heavily and plopped his fluffy face on the table. At this point, he wished he never came to the party at all, just because everyone was having a blast except him.

"Well it can't get any better from here…" Tails groaned.

_Meanwhile… in the outskirts of Metropolis…_

The weather was freezing, and the snow storm was getting much more intense with every minute passing.

_***WHOOSH***_

A streak of black and red rushed by. It was none other than Shadow The Hedgehog himself as he glided across the surface of the snow with ease. Sure it may have been freezing, but the bitter cold hardly did nothing to the ultimate life form.

"This is Agent Shadow, reporting in. I believe I may have uncovered the location of Eggman's hidden base." he spoke into the device on his wrist. "I will be sure to send coordinates as soon as possible. Agent Shadow, signing off."

Shadow shut down the device and kept searching for the base. He knew he was close, he just had to be. He has nearly spent half of the entire year just looking for it. The snow wasn't making the search any easier either.

"God damn it, where the hell is it?!" he yelled with frustration.

Suddenly, a trap door opened underneath Shadow.

"Ah shi-", he was cut off as he found himself falling into what may be a possible death trap.

With quick thinking, Shadow activated his hover shoes to slowly descend. Finally, he found the floor and safely landed.

"Where the hell am I?", Shadow asked himself as he studied his surroundings.

To his avail, he discovered that not only did he find one of Eggman's hidden bases, but that it was also active as well.

Shadow got off of his knees and stood up. "Well, it's about time, Doctor…" Shadow said with a serious look in his eyes. "Time to infiltrate…", and Shadow took off into the corridors in a stealthy fashion.


	5. The Infiltration

Shadow knew he had everything under control. The many years of him being an agent for G.U.N had allowed him to sharpen his skills. He navigated the corridors of the base, searching for the Doctor's whereabouts.

"So this is where the Doctor has been hiding this entire time." Shadow said quietly to himself. "Well, now it's only a matter of time before I find out what he's been up to lately." Chaos only knew what Eggman was possibly planning next, and it only felt like he was the only one who cared what happened next. While everyone was off partying, he was taking things seriously, especially after what Infinite pulled off a year ago.

Then from one of the corners of the hallway, an Egg Pawn wandered into the open. Shadow quickly went for cover, not wanting to be compromised. He took a quick look and saw that it was hardly any threat to him. "Hmph, I can take this one out…" Shadow ran out of his cover and jumped the robot. The Pawn was helpless, and Shadow simply smashed the head of the robot, making sure it was offline.

"Now that was too easy, I need a real challenge. C'mon, Doctor, I know you can do better." As if on cue, a much larger robot appeared out of the dark. Shadow smirked, "Now this is much more to my liking… Chaos Spear!" he shouted. Just like that the robot came tumbling to the ground, with a large gap visible through the metallic body.

"Hm, even I tend to surprise myself." Shadow remarked. "Now, back to searching the base." and Shadow continued his mission. He ran countlessly through the hallways, and strangely not finding anymore enemies or goons. Finally he found what seemed to be a room that Eggman would most likely be in. Shadow prepared for entry, and he kicked the door with fierce force.

"**Freeze, Doctor**!" he held a gun and aimed in various directions with caution. But again, the Doctor was nowhere to be found. "Hm, it appears he must be somewhere else within the base." Shadow said as he lowered his weapon.

In the room there were large consoles and mainframes that appeared to be on, but not in any use. Shadow took it upon himself to gather some evidence. He entered a few keys into the computer, and was surprised to see that it was already unlocked. _That's unusual..._ he thought. He searched through the massive files that were stored on the hard drive. Shadow didn't find anything interesting, till he came across a file named 'Phantom Ruby Properties'. "As if it wasn't so obvious…" Shadow opened the files. He found out that Eggman was carrying out experiments on the Phantom Ruby way before the war on Mobius even started. He was also studying the raw power of the Ruby and was coordinating ways to find out how it came into existence.

"None of this makes any sense, why would the Doctor want to have the Ruby when the Chaos Emeralds are of better use?" he asked himself. Of course Shadow knows how powerful the Ruby can be, especially if it's in the wrong hands.

"I better get this back to G.U.N so they can analyze this evidence." Shadow took one of his portable hard drives and downloaded the information onto it. Once it was finished, he left the room.

Again Shadow found himself running through the halls of Eggman's base. After many minutes passing, Shadow was starting to believe that Eggman had abandoned this base and never shut it down properly. Snarling angrily, he pulled out one of his Chaos Emeralds he had on hand, and prepared to use Chaos Control to leave the base.

"Chaos Con- wait a minute…" Shadow saw two robots. One being red and the other was yellow, and wearing a pirate hat? Shadow put the Emerald away and started towards the two figures.

"Hey! You two, who are you and who are you loyal to?!" Shadow fiercely yelled.

"Ahh! No, no, no, Cubot, that's the Ultimate Lifeform there!" Orbot said as he panicked. "If I recall from last time, he had a serious problem with the Doctor. We must leave now Cubot!" But Cubot had other plans. "Yargh! Orbot, we must fight this treacherous enemy and defeat him in the name of piracy!" Cubot yelled.

Orbot was horribly confused and terrified at the same time. If they stayed any longer, Shadow would attack them. "Cubot, now is not the time to be a brave pirate! Now is the time to-" Orbot didn't finish because Shadow was already upon them.

All Orbot and Cubot could do was sit and stare at Shadow's piercing look. They both quivered at the feet of the Ultimate Lifeform. Orbot was the first to speak up. "E-Excuse me sir? But you don't h-happen to be looking for the Doctor, are you?" he asked.

"Of course I'm looking for the Doctor, why else would I be here!" Shadow yelled at the two. "You better tell me where he is right now, or I'll tear you both to shreds!"

"Argh, argh, argh, you'll never find Captain Eggman because he has gone from the face of Mobius, to Davy Jones' Locker." Cubot said.

Shadow felt like ripping the dumb pirate hat off the yellow robot and kicking the him to the outer reaches of space. However before he could do so, Orbot spoke again directly to Shadow.

"Wait! Ye-yes Eggman has disappeared! Please sir, you have to believe us!", Orbot said with desperation.

Shadow tightened his grip on the two robots. "What do you mean 'Eggman is gone?' He **has** to be here!"

"Argh, but he ain't!" Cubot replied with gusto. Shadow was still curious as to why the two of them were saying that Eggman has disappeared. Did they actually mean it?

"Alright you two, listen up!" Shadow firmly said. "When was the last time you saw Eggman?" Orbot and Cubot looked at each other, and then towards Shadow.

"Well um…" Orbot started but Cubot continued. "Let me tell yee a tale of woe, ey matey?"

"Oh great, just what I wanted to hear…" Shadow said in a sarcastic tone.

_A few hours ago…_

"This shall be my greatest triumph!" Doctor Eggman declared, reading the newest reports on his device. No other device that he had either built or, in the case of the Phantom Ruby, discovered had ever produced such powerful results. The portal was powerful indeed, but it's uncertainty provided a dangerous curiosity to the scientist.

"At last, I have all the energy gathered to annihilate Sonic! Nyah ha ha ha!" He laughed. Eggman however didn't seem quite finished just yet. Apparently his curiosity had gotten the better of him, and he decided that this portal held more potential than just an energy source. If he recalled from a few days earlier, he believed he heard a voice from within the realm, and now he was determined to find the source of it.

Eggman has built himself a suit that was able to protect him from the harsh elements of whatever lay inside. So he suited up, and prepared for entry, ready to discover the true depths of this entryway. As preparations were being made, a familiar pair of robots wandered into the lab.

"Excuse me, sir?" Orbot asked. "May I possibly ask what in Chaos' name are you doing?" Eggman looked over to them and frowned.

"I told you to leave and let me work!" He proclaimed with displeasure.

"I am aware of that, sir, but it appears you are attempting something dangerous." Orbot's metallic voice seemed to portray a level of concern.

"Just shut up and let me work!"

"B-But, Sir…."

"I said 'shut up', Orbot!"

"... Yes, sir." Orbot wheeled backwards, away from Eggman. The little red robot twiddled his thumbs, as all he could do was watch the events unfold.

A fiendish purple and red plasma swirled inside the portal to the Phantom Realm, waiting to consume like the Ruby once did. Once everything seemed just about ready, Eggman placed on his helmet and looked towards the unknown realm. There was so much to uncover about the world where the Phantom Ruby originated, the gem that ended thousands of lives and ruined countless others. All Eggman had to do was enter that forbidden place, the place that could either give him the very thing he'd been looking for, or destroy him in an instant.

"My friends, it is time that I venture into the unknown, uncover its secrets, and finally obtain a secure way to victory! Wish me luck!" And Eggman walked slowly towards the portal.

"Oh dear, I have a terrible feeling about this…" Orbot mentioned as he shook his metallic head.

"Argh, that I do agree with yee." Cubot added in his pirate-like accent.

"Enough of that will you!" Orbot shouted to his cubed shaped brother. "I swear that once Doctor Eggman is accomplished with his tasks, you will be back to your old self again."

Cubot glumly looked at Orbot. "Yargh, always have to ruin the mood, don't yee?" He said.

There was heavy tension in the room, both from Orbot's complaint and Eggman preparing to enter the portal. Eggman took one last look behind him, took one deep breath, and entered the portal. Orbot and Cubot couldn't believe their own eyes; he actually went in. Within seconds, Eggman had just simply jumped into another dimension and vanished from the face of Mobius. Orbot and Cubot looked at each other, wondering what might become of the Doctor.

"Oh my word, this is not good…" Orbot said in a worried tone. He looked up to the console, where it was meant to be tracking Eggman's person and his vitals. "What if something happens to the Doctor? What if he doesn't respond? What if-"

_***Come in Orb-, do yo- copy?***_

Orbot jumped with joy as he heard his master's voice over the speaker. He hopped over to the console and replied back to Eggman.

"Yes sir, I hear you alive and well! But the connection is slightly failing." Orbot said. "In case of emergency, do you have your wire attached to your person?"

"Orbot! I have planned for this moment, of course I've done everything!" Eggman harshly yelled back. "And yes, the wire is attached. Just press the button when I ask you to."

"Understood, sir!" Orbot replied. Orbot looked towards the screen hoping to see what the realm looked like, but all he saw was a black screen. He went to the voice box and held the red button to speak to Eggman once again.

"Excuse me sir? But it appears that the camera on your helmet has malfunctioned." Orbot said. "Could you perhaps describe what the realm appears to look like?" He asked

Eggman observed his surroundings. The only thing he could see was the immeasurable amount of the color red. Everywhere he looked it was all he could see. Not to mention the strange red and purple swirls lurking about.

"It's hard to say Orbot…" Eggman said. "So far I have only seen just colors of what the Phantom Ruby was composed of. So therefore, I must venture further into the unknown." Eggman picked up the pace and went farther away from the safety of the portal.

At the lab, Orbot had a very worried look on his robotic face. Of course Cubot couldn't really feel worried at all because his personality was broken, but at least he remarked positives instead of negatives.

"Yargh Orbot, you have nothing to worry bout' matey." Cubot said in a hardy tone. "The captain of this crew is brave, and would never turn his back onto the face of an enemy!"

Orbot was surprised by this. He didn't expect his incompetent brother, of all people, to actually say something right for once.

"My Cubot, I must say that was very uplifting for you to say. Now I'm sure Eggman should be perfectly fine!" Orbot said with confidence.

"What now?" Cubot asked.

Orbot just rolled his eyes and went back to communicating with the Doctor. Before he did however, he thought about what his brother just said. He mentioned something of a potential enemy that Eggman wouldn't turn his back on. So what would the chances be of a possible threat lurking in the realm the master is currently in now… Orbot had to find out.

"Doctor, sir!" Orbot said with worry. "Are you out of harm's way?"

"What! Of course I'm out of harm's way!" Eggman said. "There's nothing here that could potentially want to hurt me. After all, I am the great Doctor Eggman!" He boasted.

But what Eggman didn't know was that he wasn't alone at all. A tall, dark figure waited patiently as Eggman spoke loudly about himself. It's form represented something of a human, but had strange pointy ears on the top of its head. It's face was something that couldn't be described, but the only noticeable facial feature was that it had menacing, glowing red eyes.

Soon, multiple shadows came out of view, and had seemingly surrounded Eggman in what appeared to be a trap. All the while, he had no idea of the events that were taking place around him.

"Sir please answer me honestly and seriously when I ask you this." Orbot pleaded. "Do you see any life form that can be a potential threat?!"

The shadows started to walk towards Eggman, and he still was unaware of the danger approaching. Eggman grew angry with Orbot and shouted very loudly.

"For the last time, Orbot! There is nothing that can ha-"

A growl was heard from the dark depths of the realm, and Eggman was definitely aware now that he was not the only one. All he could do was just stand still and not make any sudden movements. His breath was shaky, hoping that this certain moment would not be his greatest failure.

Orbot waited for Eggman to finish his reply, but the only thing he could hear was the sound of heavy breathing.

"Master, are you still there?" Orbot asked.

Eggman heard but never answered back. He was too occupied with the fact that he is currently in the face of danger.

Now Orbot was worried. He looked over to the console and saw that Eggman's heart rate was above the normal rate. He knew something was terribly wrong. He kept calling to him, but still no answer. And after a few minutes passed, no noise at all came through the microphone, leaving Orbot and Cubot confused and scared for Eggman.

_End of Flashback..._

"So, let me get this straight, the Doctor went through a portal, then disappeared?" Shadow muttered with intense disbelief.

"That's exactly what happened… all we know is that he's somewhere inside that portal…" Orbot replied.

"Yargh! Not a detail amiss!" Cubot proclaimed as well, but both robots were unable to convince the Ultimate Lifeform about what had happened.

Shadow was getting frustrated, and the two of them weren't helping him whatsoever with his mission. All they did was just say a bunch of nonsense.

"The both of you are wasting my damn time. I'm outta here…" Shadow muttered.

Orbot and Cubot panicked as Shadow started to walk away from them. As a desperate attempt, they both lunged themselves towards Shadow and grabbed his ankles.

"No please, you have to help us!" Orbot begged. "Our master is the only reason we exist, and without him we're nothing more than a pile of junk!"

"The lads right, dark one!" Cubot added. "No Captain means no purpose!"

Shadow felt like kicking the two of them for grabbing his ankles like that. But he heard their pleas, and groaned in frustration. If he really wanted to find Eggman, these two were the key.

"Alright look…" Shadow said as he turned towards them. He sighed deeply and held his forehead in frustration. "I'll make sure I get your creator, but this doesn't mean I won't spare him the confrontation I'm supposed to have with him." Shadow said firmly.

Orbot and Cubot both hopped up in joy.

"Wait, you'll help? Orbot said with surprise. "Oh thank goodness, I thought the Doctor was doomed…" he said with relief.

"Just show me where the hidden lab is…" Shadow simply said.

Both of the two robots got up and started to hop their way towards the lab, leading Shadow in the process. The two robots hoped their creator was still alive and well, while Shadow had still had some beef to settle with the Doctor. And they all started to make their way towards the lab.


	6. Shadow to the Rescue

Shadow felt like he made a huge mistake helping these two robots. For all he knew, they could possibly be leading him into a terrible trap. But then again, they weren't the brightest and most vicious robots either. Either way it's a 50/50 chance for one of the possible outcomes.

"Thank you again, sir. Without you right now the Doctor could be in serious trouble." Orbot said directly to Shadow. "It truly is remarkable that you're here."

"I'm not here to just save the Doctor and call it even." Shadow said. "I came here to confront him, and if the both of you are lying and wasting my time, then there will be dire consequences for your actions…" Shadow said darkly.

But the two robots didn't seem to care what Shadow said at all. They still joyously hopped their way down the corridor, leaving Shadow to just growl to himself.

"So, how did the Doctor disappear?" Shadow asked. Orbot twiddled his metallic fingers, thinking of a way to answer his question.

"Well…" Orbot began to say, but was rudely interrupted by his cubed shaped brother.

"Argh! Mateys we have arrived!" Pirate Cubot yelled.

The three of them looked up at the massive titanium door that stood before them. Shadow snickered, knowing that the Doctor really didn't want anyone to get inside.

"Well what are you waiting for?" Shadow said. "Open the damn door!"

"Alright, you don't have to shout at me!" Orbot whined as he went to enter the password for the door. "Just a few more buttons and.."

_***BEEP***_

*I'm sorry, but the entry key you have entered is incorrect. Please, try again.*

Orbot chuckled nervously when the computer responded like that. He swore he remembered the password, but why was it not working for him now? Orbot entered the key again, but still no entry. Orbot slowly looked behind him and saw that Shadow was growing very furious with him. He could visibly see the anger on his face, and also noticed that he tapped his foot impatiently.

"Argh, let me take a look at this here screen." Cubot said as he pushed Orbot out of his way. And for some odd reason, Cubot put his hands together, and then held his arms towards the door and shouted, "OPEN SESAME!"

Shadow and Orbot were extremely confused as to what the hell Cubot was even doing. It just goes to show that Cubot was full of surprises, weird surprises that is. Cubot saw no results, and walked back towards them.

"Well I've done all I can do…" Cubot said. Orbot just rolled his eyes and face palmed.

"Brother, you do realize that it requires a password, right?" Orbot said to his less intelligent brother.

"Huh?" Cubot replied dumbly.

"The both of you are wasting my time!" Shadow shouted. "Allow me to solve the problem…"

Shadow reached behind him, and revealed one of the Chaos emeralds. He held tightly onto the emerald and focused on the energy it gave off. Shadow felt the energy course through his veins, and with newfound power he forcefully kicked the door down.

_***CRASH***_

Orbot and Cubot were startled by the noise, and saw that Shadow just blew down the so called 'Secured Door'.

"Good god Shadow, that sort of force wasn't necessary at all!" Orbot shouted. "I would've figured it out if I just had more time!"

"Yeah, and I was completely confident in your abilities." Shadow sarcastically remarked. "Let's just get inside this damn lab and find Eggman." And Shadow stepped inside the ominous lab, and the robots followed.

He was expecting to see evidence before him, but the first thing he got was complete and utter darkness. He couldn't see a damn thing.

"Damn it, doesn't Eggman have a light switch or something?" Shadow asked, angrily.

"Oh, I believe he does. Just allow me to search for it." Orbot replied. The robot used his convenient night vision to search for the switch.

"I know it's here somewhere… Ah! Here it is!" Orbot spotted the switch and hopped over to it. With a few jumps, he reached for it and pulled the lever.

"Let there be light!" Orbot said.

Soon all the lights came on one by one, and everything was as clear as day. The inside of the lab was unkempt; blueprints scattered all over the floor, dust gathering in and under the metallic tables, and tools were scattered everywhere. Shadow was disgusted at the sight. He always took the Doctor for being very neat and organized, but it seems that losing the massive war on Mobius has taken a toll on him. Or perhaps it was just the method to his madness.

"I do apologize for all the clutter you see before you, Mister Shadow." Orbot said. "The Doctor has been working endlessly day and night in his hopes to accomplish the impossible."

"Yargh, the captain may have been as filthy as a sailor, but he got the job done." Cubot added with hardiness in his robotic voice.

Shadow mentally questioned himself as to why Eggman would want to achieve 'the impossible'. The Doctor just lost a war about a year ago, so what could be possibly plan this time? Shadow kept looking around at all the things that lay around him. As he searched the area, he noticed that there were many notes and other information that was dedicated to the study of the Phantom Ruby. Surely the Doctor could have not fallen back on this gem again.

"If it failed him once, why would he use it again?" Shadow thought to himself.

Shadow believed that maybe the Doctor had officially run out of evil schemes, but that idea went out the window when he came across a journal. He raised his eyebrows, curious as to what content it contained. He opened the journal, and inside it was littered with data that revolved around the properties of the Phantom Ruby. It intrigued Shadow, and he kept searching through the journal. Within it, he discovered ideas that Eggman had. One of them that considered draining the Ruby's power in order to overcome that of the Chaos Emeralds.

Shadow didn't believe Eggman was serious, he had to know more, and so he kept going through the notes. Eventually, he came across the blueprints of what appeared to be a dimensional wormhole device. According to the notes written by Eggman, he wanted to pinpoint the origins of the Ruby; the dimension from whence it came in order to obtain a new source of power. A power that would ultimately give him a guaranteed victory. The more Shadow read the material, the more he began to believe that his plan could be a huge threat. In fact, it could possibly start another war. Shadow closed the journal, and tucked it away behind his back for safe keeping.

"Mister Shadow, I do believe you may want to see this." Orbot said.

Shadow turned to see the robots standing in front of a glass window. So he started to make his way towards the two of them.

"Whatever you guys are calling me over for, it better be wor-" Shadow gawked at the sight of what Eggman had successfully created: A fully functional dimensional portal.

"So the nut case actually pulled it off…" Shadow quietly said to himself.

"Ya see, me hardy?" Cubot remarked. "The Captain WAS making a portal, and now do you believe us?"

"You know, you are really starting to tick me off with that pirate accent." Shadow said in a frustrated tone. "But to answer your question, Yes, I believe you both now."

Shadow took one long look at the reddish portal that was within the wall. If Eggman got a hold of something that could give him immense power from whatever was on the other side, Mobius could be in serious trouble.

"We need to shut this down now." Shadow said.

Orbot and Cubot were caught by surprise, and immediately started to panic.

"What!" They both exclaimed.

"Are you insane, the Doctor is still in there!" Orbot shouted at Shadow.

Suddenly, Shadow quickly grabbed the puny red robot, nearly crushing Orbot in the process.

"Insult me again and you'll be nothing but junk when I'm through with you!" Shadow yelled violently at Orbot.

"My- my apologies, Mister Shadow!" Orbot quickly said.

With that said, Shadow dropped Orbot onto the floor. Shadow looked at the console and saw that the vitals of Doctor Eggman were still active. He knew the two robots wanted their creator back, as did he. But Shadow couldn't take any risks with the portal remaining open. If he knew better, the energy can't be controlled.

If I go in and leave this portal open, I could settle everything with the Doctor. However, if I leave it open, then whatever's in that cursed realm could escape into Mobius and screw us all again… but if I close it, the Doctor would be trapped in there until the portal is reopened, if such a thing would ever happen.

There were very real consequences either way, the risk of releasing a threat whose danger was intelligible or condemning someone to a forced exile in the threat's natural habitat. Mobius could not sustain another war, neither could the veterans of the global war that had only ended a year ago to date; but Shadow couldn't just leave Eggman to perish, could he?

Shadow made a decision.

"I'm going in guys." Shadow said.

"Ah that's fantastic…wait, what!?" Orbot shouted. "Why on earth would you even go in there? That's exactly how we lost our creator!"

"Do you want me to save him or not? Because this is the only opportunity you'll get." Shadow replied, crossing his arms as well. "Besides, it's not the first time I took a huge risk."

"Umm…" Orbot trailed off.

"Great answer." Shadow abruptly said. "Now shut the hell up and lead me towards the gate."

Orbot hurriedly ran over to Shadow and proceeded to lead him towards the gate. They came face to face with the portal; it looked so strange to see red, crystal like images swirling right in front of their eyes.

"Ok, I'm going to need some navigation when I'm there." Shadow said. "Orbot, I'm going to task you with the job, can you do it?" He asked firmly.

"Shadow, I would be glad to guide you on your rescue mission." Orbot said. "But for starters be sure to bring safety gear and weapons to defend yourself. The last thing we need is two people to go missing…"

"Hmph, safety…" Shadow grunted. "You forget you are talking to the Ultimate Lifeform, Orbot. There is nothing on this planet that can harm me! Hell, nothing can even come close to killing me!" He said proudly.

"That may be true…" Orbot replied. "But you will still need something else to help you, regardless of what you may believe."

Orbot walked over to Shadow, and fastened a belt with a cable attached to it, around Shadow's waist. Shadow inspected the gadget that wrapped around him, and all the while Orbot hooked his cable to the winch that lead into the Realm.

"These are just precautions, is all." Orbot said assuringly. "Good luck Shadow, and may you return safely with the Doctor in hands." And Orbot walked a safe distance away.

Shadow stood before the gateway. A feeling of apprehension came over him. He couldn't help but just stare into the dark abyss of the portal. But Shadow knew he was better than this. He shook off the feeling, and he calmed himself. He took a long, and final deep breath. With one fierce look in his eyes, Shadow took a leap of faith and jumped into the Realm.

Everything was dark. Shadow couldn't see anything, not even his own feet. The air that Shadow breathed was awfully foul; It air was cold as well, and when it hit his skin it felt like needles stabbing him.

"D- damn it…" Shadow grunted. "Now I regret not getting the damn protection gear…"

Though it may have been freezing, he was able to manage by using one of his emeralds as a heat source. That problem was solved, but the darkness around him was still an issue. Again, the emerald was the source to fix all problems. Shadow held out the emerald, and it shined brightly in his hands. Soon the darkness that once shrouded him dissipated, and he could finally see his surroundings.

Red swirls flashed into his vision as Shadow was hit by an absolutely order-less landscape, the colors of the Phantom Ruby gone wild as they mixed and mingled violently in what he could only guess was the sky. Areas further away from him and the emerald were a blurry mess, mixed reds and purples, with black and grey to shade them and provide some seclusion to its inhabitants, who surely were just as insane as their home. It was impossible to focus on anything, as nothing held still, changing endlessly within the void. The only area that Shadow could see that wasn't the mind-melting red-purples was the ground; a dark burnt brownish-black scorched through it, resembling a forest that had burnt to the ground. Deep into the maniacal distance, Shadow saw things that oddly resembles disfigured trees, an ugly mix of scorched brown and purples.

Whenever he took a step, an eerie vibration sounded out from the clack of his movement. Even throughout all the oddness surrounding him, Shadow pushed further into the realm; there was no way that he was turning back around unless he had to. He had entered the realm, possibly putting Mobius in great danger, to attempt a rescue of sorts.

"Eggman!" Shadow called out his name. "Where are you?" He walked aimlessly; nothing but a chaotic environment.

"Eggman! Can you even hear me?!" He cried out once more.

Once again, nothing. No sounds at all.

After waiting for several seconds for a response, Shadow was beginning to become frustrated; growling slightly as he still was met with silence. "Come on! I know you're out there!"

Shadow just tilted his head down and groaned.

"What am I even doing right now? For all I know Eggman is probably dead." He said with annoyance.

"Whatever, I guess the only logical thing to do is to keep going." And so Shadow just kept on walking further into the abyss.

As Shadow walked into the distance, something stood behind one of the trees that he had recently passed. It peaked its head out from behind, revealing the creature to be one of the dark figures. However, this one was much different than the rest. It was a lot smaller than the rest, and the strangest part was that it's ears were much larger than it's entire small shadowy figure didn't even seem to be a threat either. Being the curious creature it was, it decided to follow Shadow, keeping very quiet as to not give away its presence. It continued to follow him, twisting and turning its large ears.

Shadow kept on walking, still unaware of the creature that was quietly following him. He still was on the hunt for Eggman, and no luck so far, but he persisted his search.

"Damn, where the hell is he?" He thought.

Shadow checked the wire that he was attached to.

"Yeah, looks like I'm still hooked up to the wire. But just how far did Eggman even go?"

Enough to get lost in an unknown realm… Shadow's frustrated thoughts muttered.

Wasn't Orbot supposed to help guide him? What the hell was he even doing anyway? That's when the realization hit him: he forgot his damn communicator.

"Oh you have got to be shi-" he cut himself off.

He believed he was crazy; crazy to think that he just heard noises of groaning coming from his right side. Shadow used his ears to carefully follow the sound.

"Alright, now we're getting somewhere…"

He kept following the noise. Now he knew he wasn't crazy. Turns out the noise was leading him into the forest of the unknown.

"Heh, this will be a piece of ca- gah!"

Next thing Shadow knew, he was forcefully jerked back and found himself landing on his back.

"What the hell…" he groaned in pain.

He sat up from the ground, turned and saw that the cable wouldn't let him go any further. If the noises were leading away from path Eggman was on, he must've been attacked, or otherwise his cable would still be latched onto the main line.

Eggman couldn't have gone far, if he was attacked there, where the cable ended, then he couldn't have made it too far with injuries. Shadow had no choice but to break off from the safety cable, it was the only way to go find Eggman. So Shadow snapped off his belt, and ran as fast as he could towards where the noise was coming from.

The farther Shadow ran into the forest, the more he started to hear groans, as if someone was in pain. And that person had to be Eggman, Shadow knew it for a fact. As he sprinted through the elusive forest, a strong smell hit his nose.

_"The smell of blood…" _he thought silently.

Shadow slowed down, and started to see a trail of blood. Now Shadow was certain Eggman was attacked, which also meant Shadow wasn't alone. He had to keep his guard up, not knowing if there were any living creatures nearby. He was close, he just needed to use his eyesight to spot Eggman. Carefully he searched the perimeter. Then he saw it. He had finally saw the old, bald scientist lying unconscious on the floor of the forest.

Shadow didn't say a thing and quickly ran over to Eggman. The first thing Shadow saw was that there was a serious wound that Eggman had incurred. It was a direct cut to the left side of Eggman's torso and luckily it wasn't bleeding as much.

"Well lucky you Doctor, whatever attacked you it didn't hit your arteries." Shadow remarked. "But damn, something got you real good, didn't it?"

Not a single word or groan came from Eggman, cause he was unconscious of course.

"Don't worry Doc, I'll have you fixed up in no time."

Shadow plopped a med kit next to Eggman, courtesy of Orbot and Cubot. Now Shadow wasn't always the best medic, or if it even came to giving someone medical attention. During his training at G.U.N, he was trained to attend to any possible wounds for any civilians he had to save. And today that training came in handy. He pulled out some rubbing alcohol and poured the substance into a piece of gauze. Carefully, he cleansed the wound Eggman had. Eggman winced while he was still conscious.

"Good, it seems his nervous system is still functioning properly." Shadow said.

Shadow couldn't really understand it. Why in the world was he helping the one scientist who has countlessly betrayed others, started wars, and plotted to take over the world time and time again? Shadow had his hatred for Eggman, but he couldn't help but feel a sense of pity for him. Maria taught him that: pity, guilt, mercy… She was the reason Shadow wasn't the complete monster that he was supposed to be. Maria cared about him, and treated him so kindly.

Shadow thoughts drifted and started to think of what Eggman must've gone through. For all he knew, he probably didn't have anyone who cared about him, nor loved him during his younger days. That's why when the world turned its back on Eggman, he became the mad and evil genius that he is today.

Still though, it doesn't excuse Eggman from all the crimes he committed. He nearly took over the world for crying out loud… But since Eggman was nearly killed from being attacked, he supposed he could put his confrontation on hold until this was over.

Shadow finished wrapping the bandages around the wound, and just like that, Eggman was going to live.

"Phew, alright that should do." Shadow said, wiping the sweat off his forehead. "Oh boy, Doc, you owe me big time for this…" he smirked.

Nearby in the same elusive forest Shadow was in, the same shadowy figure poked its head out from behind one of the weird trees. It just stood there, staring at Shadow. It had never seen such a strange alien enter their realm before. Well, except for that one who wore a weird metal mask over his face. It floated closer to Shadow, wanting to somehow communicate with him.

Shadow was completely unaware of the creature behind him, and it drew closer. It reached out its shadowy hand and…

_***GRRR….***_

The little figure instantly withdrew its hand and flew away from to cover. Shadow turned his head, searching for whatever made the noise.

"I know someone is there!" Shadow shouted. "You better show yourself right now or I'll blow this forest to hell!" He threatened angrily.

The little figure greatly feared what was going to happen next. Not because of Shadow's threats, but because of something else. No, something much worse.

Tall, slender dark figures walked into view slowly. Each of them had terrible glowing red eyes, and would stare into the souls of their prey.

"What the..." Shadow said quietly when he saw the hideous creatures walk toward him.

Now Shadow was in serious trouble. Him and Eggman might not even get out of this place alive. Shadow quickly picked up Eggman and held him on his back.

"O-ok, I can get out of this situation..." he told himself. But in actuality, he was completely screwed. All he could do now was to stand very still and think of an escape plan, and fast.

The little creature saw the distress Shadow was in. It wanted to help, but it was unsure of how to do so. Then the creature thought of something, however it would come at a great cost. Either way, it did not want to see Shadow and the bald man on his back to be eaten alive. Without hesitation, the shadowy figure flew into the center, and it floated in front of Shadow in order to defend him.

Shadow was completely caught off guard, not even knowing if this creature that just flew in front of him is a friend or foe.

"Well, it doesn't look that threatening…" Shadow thought. "And it hasn't attacked me yet…" Maybe the creature was trying to protect him, but how could he trust it?

Then the figure that stood in front of Shadow began to growl. Not at him, but at the other freakishly tall monsters.

"Were they communicating?" Shadow thought, he really wasn't sure.

The monsters then started to close in on the two of them, and all seemed lost.

Then, the small creature did something unexpected: it began to perform a series of hand movements, and in doing so a purple glow emitted from its hands. The purple energy began to take the shape of a sphere, and it also grew larger in size with every second that passed. Now the taller monsters started to close in on them. Shadow stood firm, but he was worried that this would be the end.

"Whatever this little creature is doing, it better do it fast." Shadow remarked.

And as if to answer his wish, the creature let out a large purple sphere of energy exploded. The blast caused the tall monsters to flee temporarily.

"Wow, not bad." Shadow said, nodding. Suddenly he felt his hand being grabbed and was being pulled away from the area.

"Whoa whoa, hey easy!" Shadow exclaimed.

He saw that the creature was holding his hand, not even sure of where it was leading him.

"Look I appreciate your help, uh, whatever you are. But why are you even helping me? Aren't you one of them?"

**"My name is Illusien…"** she answers. **"I'm here to help."**

Shadow was utterly confused. He wasn't expecting a distorted female voice to speak back to him. This creature was a supposed aid? Its female voice was definitely a comfort in all the chaos, but could she really be trusted? She had no actual form to her, as if she was an entity of some sort as opposed to an actual, existing creature.

There was no way to prove whether she was honest or malicious, Shadow was in her world, not his own; the only way to know was blindly trusting that she would help instead of harm.

"I can run by myself, thank you very much." Shadow said, ripping his hand away from Illusien.

**"You don't trust me?"** She asked.** "Please I can help, honest…"**

"I have no choice but to trust you!" Shadow said angrily. "But… if you can help get me out of here, I would appreciate it."

Illusien nodded, and proceeded to keep leading Shadow.

Shadow really couldn't understand the dimension at all. First the digital and misfigured landscape, trees that looked unnatural, and now an entirely new species that is out for blood.

_"Nngh, at least **she** is the only nice thing here…" his thoughts muttered._

Shadow's thoughts were getting the better of him. He had to keep running. If he even stopped for a second, he'd be pretty sure that the monsters would just eat him alive. Shadow turned his head to make sure, and to no surprise, the tall monsters were still chasing them down. Worst part was that Eggman's overweight body wasn't making Shadow's run any easier.

"Damn it Eggman, could you just lose some weight after this?" Shadow said under his breath.

The group was still trying to find their way out. It would've been a lot easier if Shadow had just followed the cable line back to the portal, but because they are being chased and Shadow unhooked himself from the line, they were basically running aimlessly.

"Do you even know where the hell we are right now!" Shadow shouted from behind Illusien.

However she didn't reply; she was more focused on finding the exit. She just had to remember the one path that Shadow was on earlier.

"Hey! I asked you a question, answer it!" He demanded.

Illusien then remembered where they had to go, and quickly directed Shadow to the right. Shadow followed suit, and eventually they were out of the forest and back on the path. In fact, they managed to find the same cable line that lead straight to the exit.

"There is no way "Illusien" is following me through that portal." Shadow thought to himself. "There's no telling on what she is possibly capable of in our dimension. I'm going to have to book it before she even gets the chance to get through."

The portal was literally in his line of sight, he was so close. Shadow ran as fast as he could. He didn't want anybody or anything getting through. He ran straight past Illusien, leaving her in the dust. All Illusien could do was just watch; she had never seen a creature run that fast in her lifetime. It seemed to her that Shadow had made a break for the portal in order to keep the hostile enemies out, but would he close the portal on her as well? No, she had to keep going; she wanted to know more about this creature, and not only that, after her little stunt she pulled off back in the forest, she was no longer one of them. She ran as fast as she could, hoping to reach her destination in time.

Shadow finally reached the portal, and tumbled to the hard metallic ground of the lab. Shadow was panting, the intensity of having some crazy tall monsters and carrying an overweight Doctor was one of the hardest things he has ever done. Within one of the lab rooms, Orbot and Cubot had just spotted the two of them enter through, and they reacted right away.

"Good Chaos, that's Shadow!" Orbot gasped. But then his jaw dropped when he saw his creator.

"And he found Dr. Eggman!" He cried.

Orbot and Cubot ran over to the two of them, each of the robots were crying non-existent tears of joy. But Shadow wasn't ready to celebrate just yet. He got up from the ground immediately and ran over to the computer.

"This is no time to celebrate!" Shadow said with urgency. "In a few less than a few minutes, monsters will come pouring right through that portal!"

Orbot and Cubot had shocked looks on their faces.

"No time to explain though, help me shut this damn thing down!"

"Umm…" Orbot started to say. "There is a bit of an issue. To shut it down you need voice confirmation, and only Doctor Eggman knows it."

Shadow was going to lose it on these two. The whole world was going to be screwed. Or was it?

"Wait a minute…" Shadow said.

Shadow pulled out the journal that contained notes on the machine. If he recalled earlier, there is a shard of the Phantom Ruby that is a key component for the machine.

"This, right here." He said quietly, pointing to a picture. "I need to remove this pronto."

Shadow hurriedly ran over to the machine, looking for the shard that was supposed to be there.

"What the, where the hell is it!" He exclaimed.

Suddenly a loud beeping noise was heard from the computer. Orbot went to investigate what the commotion was about, only to see that the radar had picked up a massive amount of enemies.

"Uh, Mister Shadow…" Orbot said nervously. "Something is coming, fast, and there is a huge quantity of them!"

"I know damn it! Don't you think that I saw them following me to begin with!" Shadow shouted at him. "I need to find that shard, it's the only thing that's keeping this portal functional."

Shadow looked all around the machine, looking for the shard that was supposed to be visible. He looked everywhere, it wasn't even it sight. Perhaps he wasn't looking hard enough. He circled to the front of the canon, and there he saw it: a faint red glow emitting from within the barrel of the machine.

"Alright I found it!" Shadow exclaimed. "How much time until those monsters show up?" He asked Orbot.

"They are 1,000 feet away from the portal. You must act very quickly!"

"Crap…" Shadow muttered under his breath. "Well, never a dull moment."

Shadow shoved his arm right down the barrel of the machine. It may have not been the most safest and smartest thing to do, but he had no other choice.

"C'mon, I just gotta reach it…"

His hand was just a few inches away from grasping the shard. At the computer, blips on the radar was getting louder and more repetitive.

"Mister Shadow, there is only 10 seconds till they pass through!" Orbot exclaimed. "Please hurry!"

"Almost got it…" Shadow struggled. His fingers were nearly touching the shard.

"Got it!" He said.

Shadow finally got a hold of the shard, and without any hesitation, Shadow ripped the shard right from the machine.

However, what Shadow failed to notice that a visible black figure phased through the portal, landing behind a few barrels silently as cover. The only thing that wasn't covered though was it's black ears.

The machine sputtered; sparks flew everywhere as the machine came to a sudden halt, and the portal dissipated right in front of everyone's eyes.

"Did we do it, Matey's?" Cubot asked.

"Y-yeah, I'm pretty sure we did…" Shadow said. "Orbot, what's the radar say?"

"Mission accomplished Mister Shadow, you have just averted an apocalypse." Orbot happily said.

"Phew, that's a relief." Shadow sighed.

_***CRASH***_

"What the hell was that?" He shouted.

Everyone turned their heads and saw that tons of tools had fallen over to the ground.

"The two of you, wait right there and don't move." Shadow said to the robots.

Slowly, Shadow went to investigate the cause of the sound. It came from one of the dark corners of the lab, behind a few large barrels and boxes. As he drew closer however, a strange pair of large black ears popped up from behind cover.

"That can't be…" Shadow said under his breath. "Is that…"

Shadow looked over, and he was shocked by what he saw.

"It- it is you… but you look… different." Shadow said, tilting his head in confusion.

There, crouched behind cover, was Illusien. However, instead of her being a ghostly black shadow, she was now a Mobian fox. A fox with abnormally large black ears.

"Well, it looks like I have a new problem to worry about." Shadow muttered.


	7. Meet Illusien

Shadow was at a loss of words. He had no idea how Illusien had enough time to get through the portal and he had no clue what to do with her now.

"Excuse me, Mister Shadow?" Orbot asked. "But who is this new person I might ask?"

Shadow sighed, knowing that keeping her a secret was already out the window.

"Hey, Illusien, can you stand up please?" He asked her.

Slowly, Illusien stood up from her crouched position, and revealed herself to the rest of the crew. Her large, pointy ears twisted and turned, revealing stunning purple inner ears that seemed to deep to be real. The entirety of her fur was a stunning black, dappled with a gorgeous grey all around her, from the tips of her paws, to the point of her muzzle, to the gentle ending of her tail, and the innermost points on her paw pads were a subtle maroon.

"Who is- Shadow who is she and what is she doing here?!" Orbot exclaimed.

"Look Orbot, I know how baffling this is. Believe me, I feel the same way." Shadow answered. "But the good news is that the portal is shut, the only thing now is that we have a new problem: what do we do with her."

Illusien simply waved at everybody with a smile on her face.

"Hi everybody!" Illusien happily said. She walked up to the two small robots, patting them on their mettalic heads. "It's so nice to see such new things for once in my life. It's so much better than sticking around in a dimension with nothing to do." She then looked at herself, studying her new physical form; something which she had never completely expected when jumping through the portal. "And this new body… it's just unreal."

"Argh, you're telling me, matey." Cubot said. "You're perhaps the strangest thing I've come across as well."

"Never mind her Cubot, what about the Doctor?" Orbot remarked.

The two robots looked behind them. In one of the nearby chairs Doctor Eggman was still unconscious, even after medical attention.

"Eggman is going to be just fine you two." Shadow said to them. "He'll be on his own two feet in less than a day."

"Well, alright…" Orbot said, still slightly unsure of his creator's safety. "But what will you do about this new girl that just happened to come from nowhere?"

Shadow thought hard on that question. He wasn't really sure what he would do with her. Hell, he wasn't really sure why Illusien followed him in the first place. Was it because she hated the Phantom Realm? At this point, Shadow had to do something, but he wasn't sure exactly what.

Then it hit him: he'd just have someone else deal with Illusien. But who? Well, let's just say it was his arch rival/ally, Sonic, aka Faker, and his pal Tails.

"Alright listen up guys, I want you two nitwits to stay here and make sure nothing else happens, understand?" Shadow strictly said to the two robots.

"We don't take orders from a man like you!" Cubot said angrily. But this only made Shadow even more upset. Shadow picked up the cube shaped robot and hurled him at the nearest wall.

_***CRASH***_

Poor Cubot just got thrown into the side of a wall, but at least he wasn't in pieces.

"CUBOT! Are you alright?" Orbot said, quickly rushing over to him.

"Ugh, note to self: Don't make Shadow angry or else." Cubot said, still dazed from the throw.

"Wait a minute, hey! I got my original voice back!" Cubot happily said.

"Oh that's relief." Orbot rubbed the back of his head. "I guess that's another problem fixed, heh."

"Hey, Shadow, thanks for fixing me!" Cubot said, waving to Shadow.

"_Jeez, now he sounds even more annoying than usual…" _Shadow thought.

"Good. Now that you two are staying, I'm on my way to meet someone else." Shadow said to the robots. _An annoying someone if I might add… _his thoughts added. "Illusien, stand right next to me."

On Shadow's command, Illusien walked over to Shadow and stood next to him. Then Shadow took out his Chaos Emerald; it started to pulsate in his hand as he prepared to use Chaos Control.

"You may feel a bit disoriented after the first time, Illusien." Shadow said to her.

Shadow held the Chaos Emerald up in the air, and in an instant, Shadow had teleported elsewhere. Now the Orbot and Cubot were left alone to now help their creator regain consciousness once again.

"Alright Cubot, let's get the Doctor Eggman to his quarters, shall we?" Orbot said to him.

"Yep! I'm with you!" Cubot replied.

The two of them trotted over to Eggman picked him up, and started to carry him.

"Oof… jeez Eggman, you need to lose some weight, that's for sure." Cubot said, struggling.

"Shush now Cubot, let's just get him there…" and the two robots slowly carried Eggman out of the lab.

But as the two of them left, something was amiss at the wall where the portal used to be. Strange red cracks began to take form, and silhouettes of the portal began to flicker…

_Meanwhile, back at the Rebel Reunion…_

Everyone was having a fantastic time: Mobians were dancing, friends were hanging out by the fruit punch bowl, and couples were finally back together. However, there was one person that wasn't having a great time whatsoever: Tails.

*sigh*

"This is perhaps the worst party I have ever been to…" Tails muttered.

Poor Tails had been left to do nothing but stare at the crowds of people who were having a blast. Before he was going to attend the party, he thought that he was actually going to have fun. People such as Knuckles, Cream, or Amy, all of which he was expecting that they would come to him and want to chat with him. But instead, everybody is occupied with something else: Knuckles was downing fruit punch as people chanted 'Chug chug chug' at him, Cream was dancing with her mother, and Amy, well she was as usual begging to get Sonic's attention.

Tails mentally slapped himself.

"Man, why did I even think this was a good idea?" Tails said to himself. "I've done nothing but just sit here and do absolutely nothing."

Tails' attention then turned to Sonic. He saw that he was having the most fun out of everybody. Sonic was breaking it down on the dance floor like no tomorrow. Everybody was cheering him on; jumping up and down in excitement as their hero/idol was showing off his dance skills.

Tails frowned as he thought of something. He realized that the situation he was in now is completely ironic; Sonic was the one who never wanted to show up to the party in the first place. _Oh how the tables have turned…_

Tails scoffed. Why wasn't **he **out there on the dance floor; grabbing everyone's attention and mingling with others? There was only one reason why: his confidence. Tails may be much braver than he was in the past, thanks to Sonic's help. Even fighting robots didn't even discourage Tails one bit at all. But when it came to being in the spotlight and center of attention, he struggled with that.

Tails just wished that sometimes he had a natural tendency to be confident. But unfortunately, he's just a shy inventor who couldn't even stand up for himself when he was younger. Tails sighed deeply, and just kept looking at the crowd. He saw Gadget was dancing with his girlfriend, Nadia. Gadget, who was initially a mute, had himself a girlfriend before Tails could even try to ask someone out. _Now that was a confidence breaker right there…_

This was the other problem Tails had: he was incredibly shy when it came to talking to girls. Every time he would walk up to a girl he may have liked, Tails would just freeze up and blush a bright red due to his own embarrassment. Or other times, girls would come to him, since he's Sonic's sidekick, and he would also embarrass himself as well. All of these few things come back to just that one thing Tails wished he had: confidence.

Then, Sonic started to walk back towards the table where Tails was at. With him, Sonic had many girls who were nearly pouncing him to death; Some begged for Sonic to marry them, others wanted pictures, and some just wanted to just talk to him.

"All of you, stay away from my Sonic!" A familiar voice shouted.

Soon all the girls that once swarmed Sonic now scattered in all directions, running and screaming as Amy swung her mighty Piko-Piko hammer around. Tails chuckled a little bit, she always had a tendency to be very aggressive when it came to other girls being around Sonic.

"Don't worry Sonic, I made them go all away. Now we can spend the rest of the night together…" Amy said to him as she tried to pull him into a hug.

"Uh, you know what Amy, I actually need to take a quick break…" Sonic nervously said. "Maybe later Ames." Sonic removed himself from Amy's hug and walked away; leaving Amy to patiently wait for her hero to return.

"_Phew, that was close…" _Sonic thought to himself.

Sonic walked casually over to the table Tails was sitting at, and decided to strike a conversation with his long time friend.

"Hey Tails, how's it going?" Sonic asked him.

Tails looked at Sonic, and forced himself to put a smile on his face.

"Oh it's great Sonic, what about you?" Tails replied.

"Aw man, you were right Tails. This party is a blast! I haven't had this much fun at a party since… well who cares!"

Tails rolled his eyes.

"Wow, good for you Sonic…"

Sonic was a bit puzzled as to why his friend was acting a bit weird. So he decided to change subjects.

"Hey, pal, what's wrong?"

Tails came up with a fake answer.

"Oh, nothing is wrong, I'm fine." Tails said.

"Tails, I know you may be smart, but you are one terrible liar, you know that? Sonic chuckled. "Now c'mon tell me, what's wrong?"

Tails realized Sonic was right; he was a terrible liar. He laughed nervously, now knowing that he had to spit out the truth. Tails sighed.

"It's just… you're having such a good time and everyone else is having a good time and Gadget has Nadia…."

"Whoa, hey Tails hold on a second; I thought **you **were the one that wanted to really attend this party. So what gives?"

"Well…" Tails started to say. "I'm just… lonely you might say."

"Lonely?" Sonic repeated. "Bro, there's a whole bunch of people here; I mean look around you Tails, there's so many other people besides me and a couple of other close friends. Just go out there and mingle, what's so hard about that?"

"That's easy for you to say, Sonic!" Tails snapped back, with tears welling up in his eyes.

Sonic was not expecting such a harsh response from Tails. His buddy was in a happy mood when he got here, what was with him now?

"You see Sonic…" Tails sniffed, to keep the tears from falling down his face. "When I'm hanging around you I'm always confident in my abilities, you inspire me." Tails slightly smiled, and then went back to a frown. "But you see, when I'm alone… I'm no good… I can't even be confident and brave enough to talk to others."

Now Sonic was really sorry for being so arrogant a bit earlier; Tails was clearly going through some deep emotions and was unsure of how to handle it. He went over to his pal and gave him a pat on the back.

"Eh, look buddy, you are the brightest fox I know. Not only that, you're wicked smart and have the coolest inventions ever!" Sonic said.

Tails started to smile and wiped away his tears.

"And you know what Tails, everybody loves ya for who you are and don't you forget it. Someday, you'll learn to be confident on your own and you can talk to anybody, I know it!"

"You really think so Sonic?" Tails asked, smiling a bit more.

"Ya, absolutely!" Sonic grinned and ruffled Tails' hair a bit. "And you know, there's plenty of girls to talk to around here, and I guarantee that they would love to talk to ya." Sonic added.

Tails immediately felt embarrassed.

"Sonic! That's not what I-"

"Oh it is brother, and you know it." Sonic laughed. "Don't worry, I'm just teasing ya. You have plenty of time to find the right one."

"Thanks Sonic… for talking to me; I needed that." Tails smiled.

"Anytime buddy." Sonic replied. "What do you say if we head back home, huh? I think I've had my fun for the night."

"Yeah Sonic, sounds good." Tails said, nodding his head.

The two of them got up from their seats, and walked towards the exit. As the two of them were leaving, Gadget and Nadia spotted them as they were heading for the doors. Gadget ushered Nadia to rush towards the duo before they left; they managed to get right in front of them and spark a small conversation.

"Hey guys, heading out too?" Gadget still had his arm pressed around Nadia's waist from ushering her towards them. He seemed slightly out of breath when he asked, worn from both difficulty sleeping and partying hard with his girl.

Nadia, who had been pressing her translucent teal mask onto her face, added to his statement with a large smile, her chest rising and falling quickly as she removed her paw from her face.

"Oh, Gadget!" Sonic said, surprised. "Yeah, me and Tails were just ready to leave. What are you guys planning to do?"

Gadget moved his arm to be around Nadia's shoulders and held her close.

"Well same as you actually; We're done partying for tonight, and Nadia is getting a bit sleepy." Gadget replied.

"Well that's cool man, I'm glad you guys at least had a good time." Sonic said smiling. "So how far away is your place from here?"

"Oh about that…" Gadget laughed nervously. "My place is really far away from here. Looks like it's going to be a long drive for the two of us, heh."

"Man, that's a bummer." Sonic remarked. Then his eyes lit up as he thought of an idea. "Hey, would you guys like to crash at my place? I got plenty of room where you guys can sleep for the night."

Tails leaned over and whispered to Sonic.

"You do realize that this is my place, right?" Tails said quietly.

"Relax Tails, I promise they won't smash anything important." Sonic answered. Sonic looked back towards the couple. "Well, what do the two of you think?" He asked them.

Gadget and Nadia talked quietly to themselves for a moment; maybe discussing a few important things between themselves. Finally, Gadget and Nadia turned towards Sonic and Tails and gave them an answer.

"If you guys don't mind us being there for the night, sure! We'd be happy if we were able to visit you guys' place!" Gadget said happily.

Sonic's face lit up, and he shook Gadget's hand.

"That's great! Well just follow us then." Sonic said.

Gadget and Nadia followed Sonic and Tails outside the building, and the two heroes led the couple to their most prized possession: The Tornado.

Gadget and Nadia were astonished; They have never seen such an amazing and well designed bi-plane before.

"Wow, guys this is your plane?" Gadget asked.

"Yep." Sonic and Tails simply said at the same time.

"This is beautiful… it must have taken you forever to build this." Nadia added. "It's safe right?" She also asked.

Tails turned red when Nadia complimented his prized possession.

"Oh yeah, it's safe alright. I made sure that there wasn't a single error on this baby!" Tails said with pride. "Is everyone ready to go?" He asked everyone.

Sonic hopped onto the wings of the plane, while Gadget and Nadia took their seats.

"Uh, Sonic?" Gadget asked. "Isn't standing on the wings of a plane during flight a bad idea?"

Sonic turned towards Gadget and smirked.

"Man, I do this all the time. Of course it's fine." Sonic said.

"Well if you say so…" Gadget remarked.

Once everyone was ready, Tails turned the keys and his plane started to whir to life. The propellers spun faster and faster as the plane's engine warmed up. A green light blinked on Tails' control panel, indicating that his plane was ready for take off.

"Alright guys, are you ready?" Tails asked all three of them.

They all gave a thumbs up, and Tails smiled. This was exactly what he was hoping for tonight: to just talk and hang out with a couple friends, that's all. Though still, there was some kind of void that wasn't fulfilled yet; Tails had to eventually do so, but for now, he just wanted to enjoy this moment. Tails grabbed hold of the controls, and pressed the gas, and soon enough they were gaining speed very quickly.

"Alright everyone, here we go!" Tails shouted.

_***WHOOSH***_

Tails had successfully taken off and they were flying high above the ground. Gadget and Nadia had never experienced something like this before in their entire life. I mean sure they have flown before, but this just felt so much different to them. The cool breeze blew their fur and gave them a sense of freedom and relaxation. All of their cares worried away as Tails flew his plane towards home.

"Hey! You guys having a great time?!" Sonic shouted to the couple. Gadget was the first to speak his mind.

"Holy cow, this is amazing!" Gadget yelled in excitement. "How're you doing back there Nadia?"

"This… is… great!" She answered with pure joy in her voice.

"Okay guys, it won't be long till we're home. Just hang tight!" Tails said to everyone, and with that said they flew off into the distance towards their destination.

_Somewhere else in some unknown forest…_

A green void pulsed as it grew larger. Two figures appeared out of the void before they stepped out. "Ohhh, woah…" Illusen touched her head and stumbled a little.

"I told you that you might get disoriented." Shadow said to her.

"Yeah, I know…" she rubbed her head. "So what are we doing in the forest?"

"Faker should be here somewhere…" Shadow checked his surroundings, looking for Sonic and Tails' house.

"I'm sorry, but who is this "Faker" anyway?" Illusien asked, still feeling a bit nauseous.

"You'll find out when you meet him and his two tailed friend." Shadow answered. "Now follow me, I believe their household is in this direction." Shadow took off into the distance, and Illusien followed right behind.

As the two were jogging through the forest, Illusien looked at her surroundings; the clear night sky, the fresh smell of grass, and the luscious green trees, it was so outstanding to her. She was definitely anxious to know more about this dimension, considering she was loving it so far.

The trees whipped past the duo as they continued proceeding through the forest on their quest to find the blue hedgehog.

"So, how far until we get to this person's house?" Illusien asked.

Shadow was more focused on arriving at his destination that making small talk with her, so he didn't bother providing Illusien with many details. "Shouldn't be too long."

After receiving Shadow's partially empty response, Illusien continued looking all around her. There was nothing that could even begin to compare to her surroundings back in the Phantom Realm. Thinking more about it, she slightly wondered if the creature with the strange metal face had come into her world from Mobius, and why it had even wanted to leave in the first place. Before she had realised it, her thoughts were fully wrapped around the strange creature who had been in her world last. _What did the creature want? Did it want to bring its world to us? Why did it take the Phantom Ruby then leave?_ She was so involved in her own thoughts that she completely tuned out the world around her, probably not a smart idea since she was running through a forest. She quickly figured out that she should pay attention to her new surroundings, as she went face-first into a tall tree. After hearing the impact, Shadow slowed down went back to Illusien to check on her.

"Ow…" Illusien said in pain. "I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention…"

Shadow just rolled his eyes in annoyance. But he still picked her up from the ground, putting her back on her feet.

"Next time Illusien, keep your eyes facing forward, and focus on what's in front of you." Shadow muttered. "Now c'mon, we have lost time to make up for."

"Right…" Illusien added.

They both took off running once again, heading for Sonic and Tails' place. Still, Illusien kept thinking about the masked creature. She decided that perhaps it would be a good idea to talk about it.

"E-excuse me Shadow?"

"I don't want to talk." He bluntly answered.

"No really, I do want to discuss this-"

"Stop. We're here." Shadow said, cutting her rudely off. "Take a look."

Illusien frowned when Shadow disregarded her question, but the moment she looked at what Shadow was indicating, she immediately smiled. There in front of her was an enormous house that shone brightly, and it even had a large runway.

"Wow, it looks amazing! I can't wait to meet the people who live here! She said with eagerness.

"Well I don't…" Shadow remarked. "Seeing their faces, especially Faker, makes me want to cringe into a raisin." He visibly shuddered at the thought. "But Tails is the only one who's smart enough to help out."

Illusien tilted her head at the name Tails.

"I'm sorry, who's Tails?" She asked.

"Like I said before; you will find out when you meet them." Shadow replied. "I'll go see if they're home, and you stay right here."

Shadow hopped out of the bushes and walked over to the front door. Suddenly the door for some reason spoke to Shadow.

"**I'm sorry, but are you approaching me?" **The door asked him.

Shadow should have expected this; Tails would install a A.I. into is own home security. Next thing he knew, a red laser was scanning Shadow. He just stood there and waited, knowing the process all too well.

"**Confirmed. You are: Shadow the Hedgehog. And I would advise you to return later, master Tails is away from this household." **The door answered.

"Are you serious right now?!" Shadow angrily said. "I come all this way just to find out that these two nitwits are not home?!" Shadow kicked a nearby bush to death. "Gah! Idiots…"

Illusien couldn't help but giggle at the sight. It definitely was amusing to see Shadow angrily throw his arms around and beat rose bushes to death. Shadow walked back to where Illusien was and she talked to him.

"So, did anyone answer?" She asked, with a large grin on her face. Shadow gave Illusien a very serious glare; hewas in no mood to crack jokes.

"No… they did not answer the damn door…" he said darkly. Illusien laughed nervously and backed slowly away from Shadow.

Then a loud roaring noise could be heard from the sky. The two of them looked up to search for the noise. Up in the air, a large red biplane could be seen carrying four different people.

"Let me guess, that has to be Faker and his two tailed friend in that plane…" Shadow muttered to himself. "Nngh, let's just wait here until they land…" Illusien simply nodded, and the two of them waited patiently.

The biplane came in for a landing; its tired skidded on the runway as the plane slowed down. Eventually, it came to a complete stop and everybody was able to safely hop off the plane.

"Wow Tails, I never knew that flying in a plane would be such a great experience!" Nadia said smiling. "Gadget, could you help me get down please?"

"Of course, Nadie." He gently wrapped his arms around her and picked her up before hopping down from the plane. Once they were on the ground, he set her back down, held her hand and walked her over to where Sonic and Tails were.

Once the wolves had walked back up to the fox, Tails led everyone up to the front door.

Only to find Shadow waiting there for them.

"Where've you been, Faker? Off partying instead of chasing down the loose ends of the war? Typical, you show everyone up by being a hero, then once there's no imminent threat, you goof off like nothing bad will ever happen. While you've neglected to continue the fight, I've been leading the chase on Eggman and his cronies; searching for Infinite too."

Sonic was not happy; he was in a good mood before, and now Shadow is here to stomp all over it.

"First of all, this was the anniversary of the Resistance overthrowing the Eggman Empire, I owed it to everyone I fought with to spend time with them. Second of all, we got rid of Eggman and Infinite, there's no reason to continue with the intelligence."

"Seriously? They never went away! Sure, Infinite might be playing the 'can't find me' card, but I just encountered Eggman! You never got rid of your enemies, you've just been letting them go off, heal and prepare to go at you again!"

Sonic seemed to be shocked by the statement, but was frustrated at Shadow for ruining his mood. "Well, excuse me! At least I'm enjoying what I have accomplished and not waiting for the next apocalypse!"

Tails, Gadget and Nadia could only helplessly watch as the argument between the two hedgehogs grew worse. With each passing second, Sonic and Shadow yelled louder at each other; throwing all kinds of insults and jabs and one another. Tails tried to intervene to stop them from going at it.

"Hey guys… can we just try to get along for once?" Tails asked them. But the two hedgehogs ignored Tails and kept yelling.

"ENOUGH!" A voice shouted.

Suddenly a purple aura surrounded the two hedgehogs, catching them off guard.

"Hey! What gives?!" Sonic yelled. Sonic attempted to move, but the purple aura prevented him from doing so. "I- I can't move at all! Tails, help me out man!"

But Tails didn't budge; he was staring at something else in particular, and so did everyone else.

"Tails?" Sonic asked confused. He looked at everybody and saw they were all looking in one direction. "What the heck is everyone looking- what the…" Sonic trailed off as he turned his head.

There, floating down from above was Illusien. She had used her powers to suspend Shadow and Sonic, hoping to stop their massive argument and to prevent any fights from happening. Turns out, her plan worked. Illusien gracefully landed, and looked to everyone who was staring at her.

"Well hello everyone!" She said happily.

Everyone, except Shadow, had their mouths gaping and their eyes were wide open; They were definitely not expecting a black fox to float down from the sky and speak so nicely to them. No one said a thing to her, they couldn't help but stare at her.

"Um…" Illusien nervously said.

"Damn it Illusien, I told you to stay hidden!" Shadow yelled at her.

"I'm sorry, but I saw you guys were fighting and I wanted to stop it." Illusien answered in response.

"Wait, hold on; Shadow you know this gal?" Sonic asked.

"Of course I do, Faker! How else would I know her name?! Shadow yelled at Sonic. "Ugh… Illusien, unfreeze us now."

"Alright." Illusien simply answered, and the purple aura dissipated from the two hedgehogs.

Sonic was finally free and could freely walk around as he pleased. However, this new girl was completely foreign to him and the others; he wanted answers now.

"Shadow, who the heck is she, and how did she do 'that'?!" Sonic asked impatiently.

"I shouldn't tell you flat nothing after our outburst." Shadow answered.

"Why I'd outta…" Sonic threatened.

"Guys! Can we please try to talk about this nice and calmly?" Gadget intervened, standing between the two hedgehogs. "Perhaps if we want questions answered, maybe we should all go inside Tails' house and talk, how does that sound?"

Shadow and Sonic stared blankly at Gadget; That wasn't the kind of response they would usually get from him. They both backed off from each other and nodded both of their heads.

"Great, now Tails, would you be so kind as to open the door and invite everyone in?"

"Sure thing, Gadget." Tails said. He walked over to the front door, allowing the computer to scan him, and the door opened. "Come on in everyone!"

Everyone proceeded to walk inside in an organized fashion.

Tails was kind of glad Gadget spoke up and said something; he really wasn't the kind of fox to yell and get people's attention. He definitely needed to work on that skill when he had the chance. Once Tails believed everyone was inside, he started to close the door.

"Oh wait, don't forget me!" Illusien shouted. She ran to the door and halted right at the entrance. Illusien looked towards Tails and waved. "Thank you for waiting." She said to him.

"Uhh…" Tails had completely shutdown, creating awkward tension between the two.

"Well… I'll just walk inside then." Illusien said as she entered through the front door.

"_Wow…" _Tails thought to himself. "_She's beautiful…"_

Tails then realized that he was drooling over this new girl; a girl that he just met and hardly even knew. So he shook his head, hoping to get his thoughts straight.

"What am I thinking?" Tails asked himself. "I gotta clear my head, yeesh." And so Tails shut the door behind; with his thoughts still drifting back to the mysterious girl he just saw. By the time he had walked through the door, everyone had been situated on or around the couch.

Gadget, Nadia and Illusien were all seated on the couch, while Shadow and Sonic sat on the ground on opposite sides of the couch; they shot glances at each other every so often. Tails took a seat next to Sonic, who happened to also end up sitting next to Illusien.

"So, let's get everyone up to date so no one will start fighting each other, alright?" Gadget waved his hands in front of him horizontally, a little quirk he had picked up from his therapy sessions with Mallory Dove. He waited for everyone to nod and look at him. "Alright, who'd like to go first?"


	8. New Threats, New Friends

_Back at Eggman's Facility…_

Cubot was snoring obnoxiously, and Orbot was hating every second of it. He had been trying to wake up his master ever since the incident, but all of his efforts have failed miserably. All the while his cubed shaped brother was slacking off and not even helping him.

"Cubot, out of all times to be resting, why now?"

Cubot woke up from his temporary nap. _Do robots even sleep… _

"Huh… wha…" Cubot said in confusion. "I'm helping you, what are you talking about?"

Orbot rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Really? How so, Cubot?" He said sarcastically.

Cubot tried his best to come up with an excuse. "Uh… I was being quiet so you could focus on healing the Doc?" He nervously answered.

Orbot just stared blankly at him; such a pathetic excuse to not tend to their almighty creator.

"Fine, be my guest and don't help Eggman. It will only mean a punishment later for you down the line."

"That's a bunch of baloney if you ask me. Eggman's always too busy with his schemes to-"

Suddenly, over at the bed where Eggman was laying, he began to stir.

"Ah, he's waking up, Cubot! Quickly come here!"

Cubot hurriedly hopped over to Orbot, and both of them watched the Doctor slowly wake up from his temporary coma. Eggman opened his eyes, and observed his surroundings.

"W-what happened, what's going on?" Eggman said with a pained voice. He sat up from his position and held his torso as he felt a sharp pinch of pain.

"Gah!" Eggman yelled in pain. "Why am I wrapped in bandages?"

Orbot couldn't help but embrace the Doctor in a hug; he was so relieved that he was ok, even though the Doctor can be cruel at times. Cubot also come over and joined the group hug for participation points.

"I'm so glad that you are alright, sir…" Orbot said happily.

"Yeah, what he said." Cubot added.

But Eggman had enough of the affection, and roughly shoved the two robots off of him. He brushed himself off and corrected his posture.

"Don't ever do _that_ again…" Eggman muttered. _I hate hugs… _"Anyways, what has even happened these past few hours? The last thing I remember was falling unconscious due to something."

"Actually sir, you've been unconscious for more than a day." Orbot stated.

"What?! That's absurd!"

"Yeah it's true, Doc." Cubot chimed in. "You got attacked or something while you were in the Phantom Realm."

"I was? Hmm, I suppose that does explain the injury." Eggman reasoned.

Eggman thought long and hard; he couldn't remember exactly what possibly attacked him, and he didn't understand how he was still alive. This brought Eggman to his next question: who rescued him.

"Orbot and Cubot, how was I retrieved from the Phantom Realm?" He asked the two robots. "Clearly you two wouldn't have been able to. You're both incapable of basically anything."

Orbot felt hurt by Eggman's insult, but he still answered his question.

"Well, sir, it was actually Shadow-"

Eggman cut him off. "WHAT?!" He exclaimed. "You mean to tell me that you allowed Shadow to enter **my **base, find **my **secret lab and enter the portal? Do you realize what Shadow knows now, and what he may possibly tell every other Mobian?! If this so happens to get out to the masses, I will guarantee that **both **of you will be decommissioned!" He harshly yelled at Orbot and Cubot.

Orbot tried to argue with his master. "But sir, he was only trying to-"

"I SAID ENOUGH!" Eggman yelled at them once again.

Suddenly, a loud noise could be heard from somewhere else within the facility. This made Eggman, Orbot and Cubot stop their arguing and listen for the sound once more.

_***BANG***_

"What was that?" Eggman asked.

"Um, I am not so sure what it could be." Orbot answered.

"If there are any more intruders I swear I will-"

But Eggman didn't get the chance to finish; The same noise could be heard much louder than the first time, and this had meant somebody or something was lurking inside the facility.

"Orbot and Cubot, go investigate." Eggman ordered.

"What!" No sir, we should stay here, where it's safe, don't you think?" Orbot tried to say.

"No! If there is an intruder, I want them eradicated, do you hear me?!" Eggman angrily said.

Orbot and Cubot quickly bolted away from Eggman, cowering in a corner in order to stay out of trouble.

_***BANG* *CRASH***_

More noises could be heard coming from somewhere nearby. Eggman was tired of hearing the repetitive banging and crashing noises, and so made his own decision.

"Fine! If you two can't handle the task to go investigate a little noise, then I'll do it myself!" Eggman rose from his bed and searched for one of his nearby weapons. Luckily a conveniently placed ray gun was on his nightstand. Eggman gladly picked it up and walked out of his room and into the hallway. Orbot and Cubot went wild; the Doctor was in no shape to be doing something like this now. Quickly, they chased after him.

"Doc, wait up!" Cubot urgently said. "If you come back to your room and rest, we'll be sure to give you a nice mug of hot cocoa, how's that sound?"

Eggman didn't even look back as he stomped his way through the halls; yes, the sound of hot cocoa did sound delightful, but Eggman was much more keen on finding the intruder first. The two robots continued to follow their master through the halls, following the sound source.

_***CRASH***_

Now the noise was even louder; The trio must have been much closer than they realized, and they moving forward.

"Sir, do you really want to go through with this?" Orbot asked. "What if you get injured because of your reckless actions?"

"Orbot, I am a scientific genius, and I have come prepared." Eggman held up the ray gun he had found earlier. "Besides, I don't want more people figuring out my schemes again. I already have Shadow to worry about, but that will be resolved soon. Now quit asking questions and follow me!"

The two robots had no choice but to continue following their master. They walked down the halls for what seemed to be a few extra minutes.

_***BANG***_

They were here; they had found the source of the noise. The three of them looked up and saw that it was coming from inside the secret lab. Worry grew on everyone's faces, including Eggman, he was worried the most.

"Orbot, you didn't happen to leave any details out of the story did you?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Was there more to the story, yes or no?!"

"Ah! Well, um, if you count the part that Shadow came through the portal with a new creature…"

Eggman's eyes grew wide. "What?! Are you meaning to tell me something came through into our world?!" Eggman said in a panicked tone as he tightly strangled Orbot.

"Yes?..." Orbot shrugged.

"Do you know what this means? It means that there is life within the Phantom Realm… which also means more potential for me to conquer the world!" Eggman said with a huge grin on his face. "Sonic and his friends won't stand a chance against-"

_***SLAM* *BANG***_

Eggman jumped when he heard the noises again, and he stopped his ranting for world domination.

"D-Doc, these living beings, you **do not **want to meet them…" Cubot nervously said.

"You two are just worrying too much." Eggman simply argued. "I guarantee that there is nothing to be afraid of behind this door."

Eggman walked over to the password keypad and entered a few words and numbers in. The doors creaked open slowly, and darkness was the only thing visible to their eyes. Orbot and Cubot held tightly onto each other; they knew the terrible threat that was on the other side.

"What are you two so worried about?" Eggman asked the two cowardly robots. "Now c'mon, I need to see what has happened to my precious lab." With that said, Eggman walked into the pure darkness.

"Well, he's a goner." Cubot said. "Lets go get the funeral ready…" Cubot tried to walk away, but Orbot stopped him from doing so.

"We can't just let the Doctor walk into a trap!" Orbot exclaimed. "Let's get him out of there before he gets hurt again!"

"Ugh… fine, but if we end up being destroyed, I'm blaming you in the afterlife…" Cubot muttered.

The two immediately followed right behind Eggman, entering the extremely dark room.

"Jeez, who turned off the lights?" Cubot remarked.

Suddenly, dim lights began to flicker above the three of them. It was then that they noticed there was strange red particles floating in the air; the particles were seemingly spread across the entire room, leaving little to no space for fresh oxygen. The robots were fine, but Eggman could be contaminating himself at the very moment.

"If I recall correctly, I don't remember the lab giving off this eerie feeling…" Orbot nervously said. "In fact, I don't remember these particles either… we have doomed ourselves…"

"Hush now!" Eggman said to him. "Just for precautionary measures, if there is an intruder, we'll tread nice and quietly through the lab. Now follow me."

Orbot and Cubot shivered as they followed closely behind their master.

"Orbot, I'm scared…"

"Me too, Cubot… but as long as we stick together we should be fine."

Everyone kept walking very slowly; it really did feel like something terrible happened here. Yet strangely enough, it hasn't been that long since the robots left the lab. Then, a bright red glow was suddenly visible from a distance.

"What is that?" Eggman asked himself.

He started to make his way towards the ominous red light. As he came closer, he found that the air grew heavy and it was starting to get much more difficult to breathe. Perhaps he shouldn't have been so rather eager to chase down this so called 'intruder'. Once he was close enough, he realized that it was the same portal that he created as a gateway to the Phantom Realm.

"Hmm, there doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary." Eggman tried to deduct. "The air however, that must be a side effect of this portal being open." Eggman then turned his head to his two minions, only to see them shaking much more violently. "What are you two so frightened about? It's just the portal."

"T-that's the thing, Doctor…" Orbot trailed off, nervously. "When Shadow came here to the lab and escaped from the Phantom Realm with you, he **destroyed **the portal for good."

Eggman was shocked and confused at the same time. "What? But the portal seems to be perfectly intact." He said. "If it was destroyed, how is it still operational?"

_**Grrrr….**_

Everyone froze in place; they all knew that familiar growl from anywhere. Slowly, each one of them turned their heads to one of the dark corners of the room. There, in the darkness, was one of the tall freakish monsters from the Phantom Realm. It's glowing red eyes pierced their souls, ready to devour them in one quick bite.

"H-How did **that **get in here…" Eggman asked, as he internally started to panic.

He slowly started to walk backwards towards the exit, with Orbot and Cubot doing the same thing. The creature was now starting to work its way towards the three of them, still keeping a sharp eye on their movements. Suddenly, more glowing red eyes started to appear out of the darkness, and they all made their way towards Eggman and his two minions.

"W-We need to leave… NOW!" Eggman hurriedly said.

Eggman wasn't always one to care about his two idiotic robots, but this time he did. Acting quickly, he scooped up the two robots in his arms and made a mad dash for the exit. Unfortunately due to Eggman's actions, the monsters were now chasing him on all fours.

"AHHH!" Both Orbot and Cubot screamed. "RUN MASTER EGGMAN, HURRY!"

Eggman had never ran so fast in his life; even with his torso wound still healing, he ran like it was a marathon towards that exit. He finally made it, diving into the open corridors of the facility. Without hesitation, Eggman presses his hand on the scanner, and the doors to the secret lab slammed shut, sealing the monsters inside.

Eggman was panting heavily as he held his hand over his wound that was still healing.

Orbot and Cubot rose from their positions and looked to Eggman. They hopped over to their creator and gave him a grateful hug.

"Stop that." Eggman pushed them off of him. "I only saved you because you're necessary for my plan."

Orbot and Cubot still smiled nonetheless; they both knew that the Doctor was merely trying to hide his very minuscule good side.

"Thankfully for all of us, this door should keep those creatures locked inside for some time. Until then we should-"

_***BANG BANG BANG***_

Eggman stopped talking and his eyes grew wide. He started to notice that the creatures were attempting to break the door down, which they were actually starting to achieve.

"Uh Doc, that door won't hold them long… what should we do?" Cubot asked Eggman.

"We can no longer stay here, my yellow friend. Once those pests get through that door, they will have access to this entire facility; it's a risk that is too dangerous to take. Let us quickly fetch the Egg Mobile and leave this place at once!"

Very quickly, the three of them made their way to the hangar, in which they found the Egg Mobile they were looking for. They immediately climbed aboard, and within an instant took off into the night sky.

"Doctor Eggman, what shall we do about the monsters and the secret facility?" Orbot asked.

"There's nothing we can do now, Orbot." Eggman answered. "However there is one thing we can do: that is to find that black hedgehog who caused these unfortunate events, and prevent him from spreading news about my plans."

Orbot thought about Eggman's decision. He figured it wasn't the worst plan ever; in order to stop worldwide panic, you have to stop the one person who knew it from the start, of course. But he was still nervous about the monsters.

"Sir I understand your plan partially; What do you plan to do about those foul creatures?"

Eggman grinned. "Not to worry. In case of anything, I installed a barrier surrounding the facility. If they wanted to escape, they would need lots of energy to do so, ha ha!"

"Oh, that does sound relieving." Orbot commented.

"Now, let's find that black hedgehog…" and Eggman flew off into the distance.

But back at the now overtaken facility, the creatures weren't just your average mindless monsters. They were intelligent; having a very good grasp on how to work their way around sticky situations. The creatures found their way outside, only to discover the massive barrier that stood between them and the outside world.

"_A plan, we must have…" _one of the creatures spoke.

"_Yes, yes…" another agreed. "Find the drained power, we shall…"_

The creatures faced the moonlit sky, howling at the moon, and they retreated back to the facility.

_Meanwhile, back at Tails' Place…_

"So let me sum things up Shadow: you found a secret base, went into another crazy dimension, found and saved Eggman, and you managed to destroy the gateway all in the same day?" Sonic said in disbelief.

Shadow nodded in reply. "That about right, and I managed to destroy the gateway within just a few seconds left to spare."

Gadget and Nadia were amazed. "Wow Shadow, so you managed to single handedly destroy a serious threat in one night?! Incredible!" Gadget said in amazement.

Shadow smirked a little bit. "Thank you I appreciate the compliment."

Meanwhile Sonic was in the background, watching his other friends praise Shadow for his efforts.

"_Lucky… I should have been the one infiltrating the base, hmph." _Sonic thought to himself. "Well that's great and all Shad, but what the heck ever happened to Eggman?" He asked, this time speaking.

"I wouldn't worry too much about the Doctor." Shadow replied. "Last I remember he was unconscious due to an attack from those weird shadow monsters I mentioned earlier."

Sonic was about to speak, but his little brother spoke first.

"That's another thing I wanted to ask…" Tails said abruptly. "Once Eggman recovers from these injuries, do you think he'll try to reopen the gateway?"

Shadow thought about Tails' question; Surely the Doctor wouldn't want to attempt another scheme like **that **again, especially after being prey to a bunch of monsters in another dimension.

"No Tails. Again, I hardly believe the Doctor would try to attempt rebuilding the portal. Besides…" Shadow held a Phantom Ruby shard in the palm of his hands. "...I got something that he would need anyways." And Shadow hid the shard away.

Sonic stood up, stretching his arms after sitting for so long.

"Ah, well I guess we got nothing to worry about then, huh?" Sonic asked.

"Not even close, Faker." Shadow answered with indifference. "We still have **her **to worry about."

Sonic's attention turned to Illusien. She saw that Sonic was paying attention to her and she smiled and waved at him.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about Illusien. But really, how does a person like her go from being a ghost in one dimension, and then ends up as a Mobian Fox in our dimension?" Sonic asked.

Shadow facepalmed. Boy did he hate the amount of questions Faker was asking him…

"For the last time Faker, I don't know how it happened in the first place!" Shadow answered sharply. "It's something that even _I _can't explain…"

"Really Shadow? That's the best you can give? C'mon man, you were the only one who can tell us how it happened!"

Now Shadow was starting to get upset again; He stood up in frustration.

"Oh for Chaos' sake, shut your mouth! I told you already that I don't know! Maybe if you want answers so bad, you should ask that question to someone who's smarter than you." Shadow sarcastically said.

"Nngh, is that an insult? C'mon I'll take you on anytime, anywhere!" Sonic threatened.

"Guys, guys!" Tails intervened. "Stop the arguing, seriously. It's getting a bit annoying to keep stopping every now and then."

"Yeah I guess you're right, buddy." Sonic said, and he backed away from Shadow.

Tails then turned his attention to Shadow and spoke to him directly.

"Shadow, perhaps if we are going to figure out more about Illusien, then let _me _do all the work. All I have to do is run some diagnostics tests, learn more about her and her powers and I should have an answer in no time!" Tails suggested. "After all, I am a genius."

Sonic grinned; this was an opportunity that could no go wasted.

"Ooohhh, you wanna get to know her, don't ya Tails?" Sonic slyly said out loud.

Tails turned bright red; his own brother putting him on the spot, especially in front of all these people.

"It-It's not like that Sonic! I'm just trying to help, that's all!" Tails tried to counter back.

Soon everyone was starting to laugh a bit, well, everyone except Shadow. _Cause he never laughs…_ All the while Illusien was just watching Tails turn as red as a tomato. She really didn't know what they were laughing at; so she just sat there, watching the two tailed fox hide his face from everyone. Poor Tails felt helpless, and he turned away from her to prevent any more embarrassment.

"Ha ha ha!" Sonic laughed hysterically. "Oh man Tails, sorry. I just thought it was the perfect opportunity. But this is all just a joke alright? Don't take it personally."

Tails frowned when Sonic said that last part. They just had a talk earlier about confidence and Sonic was also teasing him about talking to girls, and now he was doing it all over again.

"Jeez Sonic… did you really have to? Even after that 'talk' we had." Tails said quietly.

Sonic stopped laughing, realizing that the joke he cracked was a bit too much for his little bro.

"Oh, OH! Yeah, sorry for putting you in the spotlight Tails." Sonic apologized, rubbing the back of his quills.

"I forgive you Sonic." Tails replied.

Shadow stood up from his sitting position on the floor.

"Hmm, I suppose it's not a terrible idea…" Shadow pondered. "Alright, then it's settled: Tails you'll be responsible for Illusien from now on. I'll be on my way then." Shadow walked towards Tails and looked directly at him.

"Tails, I'm leaving Illusien with you and Sonic. You better promise nothing happens to her, understand?" He firmly asked.

Tails felt very intimidated, but he mustered some courage and answered.

"Yes Shadow, I promise Illusien will be taken care of." Tails replied.

"Good, then I'll be on my way." Shadow started to make his way for the door.

"Where are you off too so late?" Gadget asked Shadow.

"I still have some unfinished business to take care of, goodbye." And with those last few words, Shadow took off running out the front door.

"Well, I'm gonna go hit the hay." Sonic yawned. "I had a great night guys, and a good talk too."

Sonic got up and walked up the stairs towards his room. He turned around one last time.

"Night guys." And Sonic went into his room.

Tails turned to Gadget and Nadia once Sonic's door clicked closed. "You guys can have my room, I'm probably going to be up for a while running tests anyways."

Nadia clapped her hands a little. "Aww, thank you, Tails!"

"No problem, it's the least I could do since you guys are guests. Here, I can show you where it is, too!" He led the couple down the hall to the door of his room. "Here it is, sleep well, you guys."

Nadia hugged Tails and her tail wagged.

"Aww, you're so sweet Tails." Nadia said to him.

Tails blushed and hugged Nadia back.

Gadget, who was feeling a bit tired, did his best to wait. "Hey Nadia, can we go to sleep now?" He asked impatiently.

Nadia stopped embracing Tails and turned to Gadget. She nodded and took Gadget's hand, and they walked into their temporary guest room for the night.

"Have a good night Tails." Gadget and Nadia said in unison, and the couple shut the door behind them.

"Night…" Tails quietly said.

Tails was unsure of what to do now; Everyone was fast asleep and he was the only one up.

"Well, I guess I'll go relax in the lab for a little bit." Tails said to himself.

Tails trotted towards the part of the house where his lab was located. He yawned, stretching his arms as he walked into his quaint workspace. He sat at his desk, looking at all of his gadgets and unfinished projects that he worked on. Tails smiled at the sight, and decided to just tinker with the many things he had lying around to pass the time.

As Tails worked, his thoughts wandered; he couldn't help but keep thinking about his emotional breakdown he almost had with Sonic at the party. It's not usually like him to be in that sort of emotional state. He always thought himself to be very bright and outgoing, but tonight just wasn't his night. Maybe it was just another unfortunate situation he was placed in.

_***sigh***_

"I shouldn't worry too much about these things…" Tails said to himself. "As long as I stay close with friends, I won't have nothing to worry about."

Tails really tried to assure himself, but again, his thoughts just kept going back to that conversation he had at the party.

"_Nngh, c'mon Tails… shake it off…" _he mentally told himself.

This time his thoughts actually did change, but it wasn't for the better. He recalled the moments when Sonic joked about him finding the right girl. Now Tails wasn't that kind of guy at all; yeah some girls occasionally came up to him, but only since he's a hero and is Sonic's sidekick.

"_No!" _He mentally slapped himself. "_I am NOT going to start thinking about this!"_

But it was no use; Tails was now stuck thinking about what it would be like if he had an actual relationship with a girl he really liked. He was so deep in thought that he failed to notice that somebody had entered into his lab. That somebody reached out their hand from behind Tails, and tapped him on his shoulder.

"AHH!" Tails screamed.

He quickly turned around to see who had just intruded in his workspace, only to see Illusien standing there with her big fluffy ears dropping down.

"Oh, it's just you, Illusien." Tails said in relief. "I'm sorry if I scared you at all."

Illusien's ears perked up once again, and she smiled.

"It's alright Tails. I just thought I did something bad, that's all." Illusien said to him.

"Oh no, not all; You did nothing wrong at all, you just gave me a fright, heh heh." Tails laughed a bit as he scratched the back of his ears.

Tails was about to return to his work, however his eyes caught Illusien staring intently at his two tails.

"You surprised by this?" Tails asked Illusien.

"Huh, what?" She answered as she woke up from her daze.

"My two tails, are you intrigued by them?" He asked once again.

Illusien felt unsure how to answer his questions without offending him, but she managed to come up with something.

"Actually… yes, I think they are very funny looking." Illusien said bluntly.

Tails pulled back a little; Illusien's response wasn't harsh, but it wasn't a compliment either. All he could do was just laugh and retain composure.

"Yeah, you're not the only one who's ever said something like that before." Tails said to her.

Illusien tilted her head.

"Huh? 'Not the only one?'" She asked.

"Yeah, a lot of people back in the day used to make fun of me for having twin tails. They called me things like, 'freak', 'mutant', and more. The insults felt like they were never ending…" Tails said with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"But I came to learn that I should appreciate my twin tails; that it is a gift and that it is the best part about me." Tails said happily.

"Wow…" Illusien said, intrigued by his short backstory. "I would never make fun of you, Tails!" She added. "I think it's nice to be different, you know?"

Tails smiled with what Illusien said.

"Thanks Illusien, I appreciate the compliment." He said.

Just then, Tails realized that Illusien was the only one up and had no place to sleep. Quickly Tails stood up and a worried look was all over his face.

"Oh man! You don't have a place to sleep, don't you Illusien?" Tails asked her.

"Uhh… yes." She answered simply.

"Well, follow me. There's a spot in the living room where you can sleep."

Tails walked towards the door of the lab, and kindly asked Illusien to follow him. She did follow, but not before she saw a small mattress lying flat on the floor. Once the two of them were outside of the lab, they started to make their way towards the living room, quietly to avoid waking anyone up.

"Hey Tails?" Illusien asked.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"I saw there was a mattress lying in your lab… is that where you'll sleep?" She asked with innocence.

"Yeah, that's where I'll sleep; Since Gadget and Nadia are using my room to sleep in." Tails answered simply.

"But how come if we were both in the lab, couldn't we just slept together?" Illusien asked again with innocence.

Illusien was completely unaware of the consequences of her question. In an instant, Tails grew flustered and his face turned a bright red. She noticed and spoke once again.

"Hey Tails, are you ok?" She walked towards him and put her hand on his shoulder. "You're turning red like earlier? Are you sick?"

Tails could hardly answer her. Right now he was doing his best to hide his feelings and emotions the best he could. So, Tails thought fast and came up with a small lie.

"Uhh… yeah! Y-yeah I'm sick!" He nervously answered.

*cough*

Tails pretended to act like he had a common cold.

"Aww, I'm so sorry you feel that way…" Illusien said. "I won't waste anymore of your time. You just help me get this couch setup and you go right to sleep, ok?"

Tails smiled, relieved that his quick lie worked. But then again, he felt kind of glad that Illusien cared a lot about him, even though they just met.

"Y-yeah, that sounds good." Tails said, pretending to strain his throat a bit.

Finally, the two foxes reached the living room. Tails went towards the couch and pressed a button. Within seconds, the couch went from a seat to an actual bed. Illusien clapped happily, but immediately stopped once she realized that people were sleeping.

"Here's your spot Illusien. I hope this is enough."

"Aww, it's perfect Tails." Illusien said, and gave Tails a nice warm hug. "I've never slept in a bed before, so, thank you for this gift." She hugged him slightly more.

Tails couldn't help but blush; a girl, his species, was hugging him, and not only that, she was very pretty. The hug to him felt like it lasted forever; it was so warm and comforting.

"Y-You're welcome Illusien…" Tails said, hugging her back in response.

The two of them let go of each other, and Illusien jumped straight into bed. She rolled around very playfully, enjoying the soft feeling of the mattress. Slowly, Tails started to make his way back towards the lab.

"Good night Tails." Illusien said to him, yawning in the process.

"Get some rest Illusien." Tails replied.

The two had finally separated and Tails and Illusien were alone now. Tails made it back to the privacy of his lab and laid down on the old mattress.

"_Strange…" _Tails thought to himself. "_What are all of these things I'm feeling… for her…"_

Just like that, Tails peacefully passed out and fell fast asleep; hoping for a better day tomorrow.


	9. Waffles and Eggman?

It was morning; it's rays shone through the windows of the house, brightening up the house. Unfortunately for one blue hedgehog, every morning was a nuisance. Sonic was in bed, and was sleeping in a position that most would consider uncomfortable. As he slept, sunlight creeped slowly through his window and lit up the dark room he slept in.

"Ugh… no Ma I don't wanna go to school…" Sonic groaned in his sleep.

Sonic woke up slowly from his slumber.

_***yawn***_

"Welp, time to start the day."

Sonic hopped out of his bed and did his usual routine. Once he was done he put on his gloves and shoes and made his way downstairs for breakfast.

"Yo Tails! You working on the food yet?" Sonic shouted.

But Sonic didn't get a response. Sonic must've figured that Tails didn't hear him the first time.

"Uh, Tails?" He asked once more. Still, there was no response from Tails.

"Ok pal, I ain't gonna even bother making breakfast this time. Remember the last time, I nearly burned down the house, twice…" Sonic muttered.

Sonic searched around the house for his two tailed buddy. He checked all the rooms of the house, every room except Tails'. Sonic opened the door to Tails' room after he had checked all the others.

"Hey Tails, you in here?" Sonic asked.

Suddenly, Gadget and Nadia peeked their heads from underneath the covers.

"Sonic, have you ever heard of knocking?!" Gadget yelled. "Give us some privacy will ya?!"

"Oh shi- My bad, guys, sorry!" Sonic quickly apologized, and shut the door instantly. "Whoops…"

Sonic felt like he looked everywhere. His stomach rumbled very loudly, he was starving for some food.

"Aww man, I've checked everywhere...unless…" Sonic turned his head towards the door that lead to Tails' lab.

"Bingo!" Sonic exclaimed.

He made his way towards the door and opened it. Sonic looked around; everything seemed to be in order. Then his eyes gazed upon something that he almost burst out laughing at. On the old mattress was Tails sleeping soundly, and Illusien was laying right next to him.

Sonic knew that there was no way Tails would have allowed this. Sonic was about to wake Illusien and tell her that Tails doesn't like company, but then he thought about something; he came up with the idea to prank Tails to get a big laugh out of it. Sonic planned to wake Tails up from his sleep, and he hoped that Tails would notice Illusien sleeping next to him. Thus, Tails would freak out and panic.

"_Aw yeah, it's all coming together..." _Sonic thought to himself.

Sonic grabbed a conveniently placed video camera from one of Tails' desks. He hit the button to start recording and held the camera. Very carefully, Sonic tiptoes over to his buddy who is sleeping. Once he is close enough, he gives Tails a little shake. Just to kind of wake him up a bit. Tails grumbles a bit; instantly Sonic moves away from the bed and keeps the camera pointed towards the two foxes.

"_Oh man, this is gonna be good…"_ Sonic thought to himself.

_***yawn***_

Tails had just woken up from his sleep, still unaware that Illusien was lying down right next to him. Tails sits up halfway and rubs his eyes. Once he puts his hands down, he sees that Sonic is standing there with a camera.

"Uh, Sonic… What are you doing holding a camera?" Tails said groggily.

Sonic just snickered; he was still waiting for Tails to turn to his left.

Tails shrugged and decided to get his day going, but once he looked to his left, his eyes went wide when he saw that Illusien, a girl, had apparently slept next to him.

"AHH!" Tails screamed and fell backwards off of his bed.

Illusien woke up immediately when she hears the noise; and also screamed as well, even though she didn't exactly have a reason to.

"W-what's going on?!" Illusien frantically yelled.

"What's going on is that you were sleeping with me!" Tails yelled back at her. "That's not something most people do, you know?!" "_Unless they are a couple, of course…" _he thought silently.

"AHHAHAHAHA!" Sonic was laughing hysterically; he just caught on tape the funniest moment with his little bro. The two foxes turned their head quizzically towards Sonic, wondering why he was laughing so obnoxiously.

"Sonic… it's not funny...really." Tails deadpanned.

"Nah dude, this _**is **_funny!" Sonic said, still laughing out loud. Tears were dripping from his eyes as he couldn't help himself.

Tails' face was a bright red. He had never felt so awkward and embarrassed in his life. He looked to Illusien, only to see her just smiling at him.

"Illusien, why were you sleeping next to me?" Tails asked her.

"Well since you said you weren't feeling so well, I thought it would've been a good idea to give you company." Illusien said happily. "I went to go ask and see how you were feeling, but you were asleep. So I just laid right next to you." She smiled.

Tails was completely flustered. He couldn't even begin to form thoughts on how he would reply, nor could he quite comprehend what crossed her mind to do that. All he could do was blink and unconsciously shake his head. Should he tell her 'thanks'? What should he say? What _could_ he say?

Illusien didn't quite seem to understand why he was having such a large reaction over what she had done. All she did was just sleep next to him. After all, Tails had seemed like he needed company, and she'd been keeping him company.

Now Sonic was laughing and rolling on the floor and Tails was completely red in the face and looked like he'd been stunned and she didn't quite understand why.

"I-Illusien, umm…" Tails had a hard time spitting out the words; he was still extremely embarrassed. "I...I need to make breakfast!" Tails chickened out and ran for the kitchen, leaving Sonic and Illusien in the lab by themselves.

Sonic finally managed to get his laughter under control, and he stood up from his previous position.

"Man… I haven't laughed so hard in ages." Sonic chuckled. He turned his head towards Illusien. She was tilting her head; puzzled by the actions she had just witnessed.

"Sonic, why do you think Tails acted like that?" She asked. "All I did was just give him company at night. Did I do anything wrong?"

"Huh?" Sonic wasn't paying attention to Illusien initially; since he was too busy repeating the funny moment over and over again on the camera. "Nah Illusien, you had his best interests at heart." Sonic replied.

"So then why did Tails act like it was a bad thing?" She asked.

Sonic didn't really know if Tails had any interest in Illusien, but he decided to downplay the situation and lie a little bit.

"Well, let's just say for now that Tails usually doesn't have people sleep next to him without permission." Sonic said.

Illusien realized what the issue was: she didn't ask permission. Now she felt bad; her large ears drooped, thinking that Tails must be really upset at her.

"Hey c'mon Illusien, don't feel bad." Sonic tried to say to cheer her up. "Tails just got scared that's all. Besides, you didn't know, and now you know."

Illusien's ears perked up again.

"Well, you do have a point… yeah I guess you're right." Illusien smiled. "So tomorrow, I'll ask permission so I can sleep next to him again."

"Whoa hold on there." Sonic stopped her. "On second thought, maybe you need to talk to Tails a bit more. He usually prefers to know somebody beforehand, you know?"

"Ok, well, I'll do that instead!" and Illusien happily skipped towards the kitchen.

Sonic smiled; he knew that his buddy Tails was in for a treat; Tails' life was going to be turned upside down with this new girl in town. The smell of fresh, delicious food hit Sonic's nose, and instantly he darted for the kitchen.

_A few minutes later…_

"Ok everyone, Breakfast is ready!" Tails shouted out loud.

Sonic was the first one in the kitchen, as always. Tails grinned a bit; he always knew Sonic loved to eat food. Not just any food though: Chili dogs. It took awhile to get the recipe down, but Tails finally got it down to the point where Sonic eats every single chili dog he makes.

"Alright Tails, what's on the menu today?" Sonic asked eagerly.

"You know, the usual."

Tails placed an enormous plate of chili dogs right in front of Sonic. Sonic's mouth salivated; the sight of chili dogs always made him hungry.

"Thanks Tails, you're the best!" Sonic said.

Sonic ate the food like it was his last meal; taking very big mouthfuls of it.

"Thanks, Sonic. I'm going to go get the others for breakfast, ok?"

Sonic looked at Tails dumbly; he had three chili dogs stuffed in his mouth. Sonic simply have a thumbs up and kept eating away. Tails went upstairs to go check on Gadget and Nadia. He reached the room the wolf couple slept in, and he knocked on the door.

"Hey guys!" Tails shouted from the outside.

Gadget pulled open the door to the room. "Yeah, what is it Tails?" He answered.

"You guys ready for breakfast?"

"Pretty much." He then turned his head towards the room's interior. "Hey, Nadia, ready to eat?"

She poked her head out of the blankets, which she had been hiding in for warmth. "Yeah! Food!"

She scrambled off the bed, dragging a pile of multicolored blankets with her in a giant trail.

Gadget snickered and began to laugh as the trail of blankets continued to follow her. "Hey, let me help you with those." He pulled a few fabrics off her shoulders and most of the remaining blankets fell off her.

Nadia giggled and shook the two remaining blankets off.

"So, who's ready to eat some waffles?" Tails said to the couple.

Gadget and Nadia went wide eyed.

"WAFFLES?!" The couple shouted in unison.

The couple ran out of the room, pushing Tails against the wall as they raced down the stairs. Tails groaned in pain a bit; People always went nuts for his food, and he wasn't even that good of a cook. Tails just simply shrugged and made his way downstairs.

When Tails reaches the bottom of the stairs, he saw that everyone was happily eating away. Tails approached the table, grabbed a plate, and sat in a chair.

"How's the food everyone?" Tails asked.

"These waffles you made Tails are absolutely delicious!" Gadget said with his mouth full. "This is a million times better than the rations that the Resistance Army gave out to us for meals!"

"How about you Nadia, are you enjoying it?" Tails added.

"Oh it's delightful!" Nadia smiled. "After all, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, at least that's what Gadget tells me, and you made a fantastic first meal!"

Tails smiled at their compliments to his food.

"Thanks guys, I'm glad you like the food. And I'm not even a great cook, ha ha!" Tails laughed.

Suddenly a loud burp was heard right at the dinner table. Everyone turned their heads to see Sonic; he had cleaned his plate entirely of all chili dogs.

_They don't call him the 'fastest thing alive' for nothing…_

"All done!" Sonic said, standing up from his chair. "I'm gonna go chill outside on the roof if anyone needs me, later guys!" And Sonic whooshed away from the living room.

Tails, Gadget and Nadia blinked; Sonic just said something and next thing they know he's gone. They shrugged and kept on eating their meal.

As Tails kept eating the delicious waffles, he couldn't help but think that he was forgetting something. As if on cue, Illusien walks right up to the dinner table. Her canine nose sniffed the waffles; Illusien fell in love with the pure smell of such a mysterious food.

"Uh, Illusien, are you alright?" Tails asked her.

Illusien snapped out of her trance.

"Oh Tails!" She exclaimed. "Sorry, I couldn't help but just smell this delicious…" she paused for a second. "What exactly are these square things anyway?"

_***Clang***_

Tails, Gadget and Nadia both dropped their utensils when Illusien said that.

"You've never had waffles before?" Gadget asked with astonishment.

Illusien felt a bit confused; she wasn't quite sure why they were all giving her such a strange look.

"Umm… no?" Illusien said slowly.

"Really?!" Gadget shouted. "You need to try some of this stuff right now!" Gadget quickly got up from his chair, and allowed Illusien to take his seat.

Illusien observed the contents in front of her; this strange food may have smelled delicious, but it seemed a bit off-putting. Some brown liquid slowly dripped down the sides of this so called 'Tower of Waffles'. It was kind of gross-looking to Illusien.

"Do I really have to eat this stuff?" Illusien asked.

Tails leaned over the table a bit and spoke to Illusien.

"Trust me Illusien, waffles and syrup are pretty tasty." He said. "And besides, what's the harm in trying some anyway?"

"Well if you put it like that…" she trailed off. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to take a small bite."

"So then eat!" Everyone at the table said to Illusien.

Illusien grabbed the fork next to her and cut off a piece of the waffles. She slowly took a bite of the food; chewing and taking in the taste of it.

"Well, how's it taste?" Tails asked.

Suddenly Illusien's eyes went extremely wide. Within seconds, she started to devour the single waffle on her plate. She had never tasted anything as delicious as this. To come and think of it, she's _**never**_ had anything delicious in her lifetime. Within seconds, her entire plate was clean of food.

"That was the best thing I've ever eaten!" Illusien smiled. "Any chance I can get some more?"

Tails was surprised; he didn't expect Illusien to fall in love with his cooking.

"Yeah, you can have some more Illusien." Tails answered. He placed more waffles on her plate. "Ok Illusien, go ahead and dig..."

Tails didn't finish; Illusien was already taking huge bites of her food, and finished once again very quickly.

"...in." Tails finished his sentence.

"Wow, that was even tastier!" Illusien happily said. "Who made this food anyway?" She asked.

Gadget and Nadia pointed at Tails; he rolled his eyes, since the couple knew that he really didn't like too many compliments. Illusien ran up to Tails and gave him a big hug.

"Thanks for making those waffles, Tails! Now I know who to talk to if I ever need food." She said.

Tails blushed immensely; first she slept with him, now she was hugging him. Poor Tails was going to die of embarrassment if she didn't stop hugging him.

_***Knock, knock***_

Someone was at the door. This gave Tails the chance to remove himself from the hug.

"Oh! Someone's at the door! I'll be right back!" Tails exclaimed, breaking away from his embrace with Illusien.

Tails ran to the door and opened it. It was Amy; he figured she was only here to see Sonic.

"Hiya Tails!" Amy said happily. "Do you happen to know where Sonic is?"

"_Well I guessed right…" _Tails thought to himself. "Hey Amy, uh, Sonic isn't here at the moment. He uh, died."

Amy frowned. "Aw Tails, you know that I always come here every morning to see Sonic!" She pouted. "And that excuse doesn't work on me, you know that."

Tails laughed nervously. "Well Amy, I'm sorry but Sonic isn't here right now."

"THAT'S NO FAIR!" Amy yelled right in Tails' face. "I want to see my Sonic this inst- hey who's that?"

Tails was caught off guard when Amy abruptly stopped her ranting. He saw that she was referring to somebody and he turned around. Of course, Illusien was right behind him, curious of who he was talking to.

"Oh her! Uh, she's no one in particular." Tails said quickly.

Amy crossed her arms. She wasn't buying it. Suddenly Illusien came forth, startling both Tails and Amy, and she introduced herself.

"Hey, I'm Illusien!" Illusien said. "Who are you and what's your name?"

Amy was stunned, but she just went with it.

"Oh I'm Amy!" She answered. "It's a pleasure to meet you… um, what's your name, Miss?"

"It's Illusien, and I'm new here, by the way."

"You're new here Illusien?! I have to show you everything Mobius has to offer!" Amy squealed in joy. "Just us two girls, hanging out, you and me!"

At that moment, Gadget and Nadia came to the door. They were getting ready to head out, but they stopped first to greet Amy.

"Amy, hi!" Nadia waved, excited to see her again.

"Oh my gosh, Nadia!" Amy excitingly said. "Look at you; you look fantastic!"

"Aww, thanks Amy." Nadia shyly said.

Amy turned her head towards Gadget. "And Gadget, it's great to see you too!"

"Hey Amy." Gadget said.

"So, what's it like you two; being a couple and all? Amy asked them.

Gadget was the first to speak. "Well it's been going pretty well so far."

"Aww, you two are so **cute** together!" Amy said happily. "It just makes we wish me and Sonic were a couple…" Amy proceeded to daydream about Sonic, again.

Gadget and Nadia looked at each other; they both knew that Amy always obsessed over the blue blur. It was amusing to watch, but the wolf couple had to go.

"Well it was nice seeing you again Amy." Nadia said to her. Nadia walked over to Tails and gave him a hug. "And Tails, thank you for letting us stay the night, we really appreciate it."

"Yeah, no problem Nadia. You guys are welcome to stay anytime you like." Tails said kindly.

A taxi pulled up to the house. It was Gadget and Nadia's ride back home. Gadget carried his bag over his shoulders and walked over to the car.

"C'mon Nadia, let's get going!" Gadget shouted from a distance.

Nadia nodded her head to her boyfriend, and gave one last goodbye to Tails, Illusien and Amy. The couple got in the car and were off, leaving Tails, Illusien and Amy behind. Amy looked at the two foxes.

"So… are you sure she's not your girlfriend Tails?" Amy asked curiously.

Tails went wide-eyed and immediately turned red.

"W-what?! She is **not **my girlfriend!" Tails exclaimed.

Amy giggled to herself a bit. "Oh relax Tails, I'm only teasing you silly." She said.

Tails really felt like ever since Illusien showed up, people have been teasing him constantly about Illusien being his girlfriend. At this rate, his progress of being more confident is going nowhere.

"So Illusien, how would you like to go see Metropolis with me?" Amy asked her.

"Well that sounds very interesting." Illusien said.

This is where Tails intervened. "Whoa hold on Amy." He said stepping in front of Illusien. "She was supposed to stay with me, and she is-"

"Ha, I knew it!" Amy interrupted Tails. "You care about her, so therefore she **is** your girlfriend!"

Tails was frustrated and embarrassed at the same time. "Amy that's not- ugh…" Tails groaned. "Amy I'm serious. I was given the responsibility to keep an eye on her and make sure nothing happens to her."

Then Illusien came up to Tails, and looked at him with puppy dog eyes.

"Please Tails?" Illusien asked sweetly. "Can I go explore just for a little bit? I think it will be a fun experience."

Tails wasn't answering.

"Umm, Tails?" Illusien asked again.

But the poor kitsune couldn't handle the amount of cuteness Illusien showed. Tails was stuck staring in Illusien's eyes. Her beautiful, purple eyes. Tails couldn't help himself; it was like he was under a spell. But whatever it was, he was liking it.

"Tails? Tails? TAILS!" A voice shouted.

"H-Huh?!" Tails snapped back into reality. "What happened?"

The girls looked at him like he was crazy or something.

"Uh Tails, you're drooling." Amy said, grossed out a little.

Tails immediately wiped off the drool. Of course he knew why he was drooling, he just didn't want to talk about it at the moment.

"Sorry… So I guess we're off to Metropolis?" Tails asked.

"You bet!" Amy answered. "C'mon Illusien, let's take Tails' plane to the city!" Amy took hold of Illusien's arm, and lead her towards the plane.

"W-Wait, Amy, I never said we would take my plane!" Tails shouted.

"Aw, Tails don't be a Debbie Downer. Let's go already!" Amy countered back.

The girls had already entered the plane and were buckled up. They laughed as they prepared for their journey to the city.

Tails face palmed himself. "_Now I know why Sonic doesn't like to hang around her much…" _Tails thought to himself. "_But I don't have a choice, Shadow specifically said to keep an eye on her…" _

Tails walked over to his plane and hopped into the driver's seat. Without much to say, Tails took off and the three of them were off to Metropolis.

_Meanwhile, in elsewhere on Mobius…_

Sonic was having such a great run. He ran through corkscrews and grinder rails; he bounced off springs and dashed wildly through the forest. Being able to venture out into the wild was the one thing that Sonic enjoyed the most. Especially if he's all alone with no one to bother him.

Sonic landed epically on the ground, and he took a breath of fresh air.

"Ah…" Sonic breathed out. "Nothing like a good run to get away from it all." He stretched his limbs. "I could use a small break if anything. But where would be the best spot?"

Sonic looked around for any places he could rest up. Just nearby was a cliff; the perfect place for Sonic to take a quick little break.

"That will do!" Sonic said. He jogged over to the cliff side. But his ears picked up something. It sounded like a rush of water, and he hated water. Sonic stopped jogging when the thought of water came to mind. Instead, he walked over to the cliff, and when he got there he was greeted with an amazing sight. Where he stood he was at the top of a waterfall, overlooking a large valley that held a very large lake within it.

"Man, going outside and exploring the environment is amazing!" Sonic said. "If I never got out of the house, I would have never found this sweet spot." He looked down over the edge, seeing where the water went as it cascaded over the cliff. "I just wish this spot didn't have water…" Sonic nervously said.

Sonic found a nice dry spot on the edge of the cliff, and he sat himself down. He took in a deep breath, and breathed out slowly. Whenever he was at places like this, it always felt like he was at peace. Sure, going fast is the best experience, but every once and awhile he liked to just sit back and simply take in the serenity of his surroundings. Not to mention that everytime he did slow down, he'd always find the coolest places, such as the one he was at the moment.

"Man, it never gets old…" Sonic sighed peacefully.

His thoughts drifted; he remembered that it's been a year without no Eggman at all. Ever since kicking his butt during the last days of the war, the world has been very peaceful without robots or flying jackals ruining everything. Though Shadow mentioning the weird event the day before did slightly concern him, he wasn't worried. After all, Shadow did end up fixing the issue in the end.

For once in Sonic's life, he was finally able to rest easy and not worry about saving the world. Sonic enjoyed the thought initially, but he thought long term; would he enjoy not saving the world for the rest of his days? He couldn't possibly go that long without any action at all.

Sonic calmed down a bit. It wasn't the end of the world, perhaps a new enemy was bound to return. That way, he could once again save the world in style. In the end, Sonic just ended up staring off into the valley that lay before his eyes; it was peaceful.

Though unfortunately for Sonic, that peace didn't last very long. In the distance, a faint sound of yelling could be heard. Sonic's ears twitched.

"Hey, what the heck is that noise?" Sonic stood up and looked around. The noise grew louder, but it didn't seem to be near him yet.

"It doesn't sound like its coming from my left or right…" then he looked up to the sky. "So it's from above?"

Sonic's prediction was right; Up in the sky, he could see a trail of black smoke coming from what looked like a piece of scrap. And worse, it was heading right for him at high velocity.

"Oh crap!" Sonic exclaimed. Before the scrap could collide, he dove for cover.

_***CRASH***_

The hurdling ball of scrap collided with the ground, ruining the scenery around it.

"Aw c'mon…" Sonic whined. "Why did a meteorite have to ruin my sweet spot…" Sonic approaches the area of the crash site for a closer look. But as he did, he noticed that this wasn't a metallic meteorite. It was actually Eggman's Eggmobile.

"Ugh…." a few voices groaned from within the vehicle.

Sonic stopped; It couldn't be **him**, right? Surely Eggman wouldn't be that reckless to actually go out of hiding. Not to mention crash land right next to the one and only blue hedgehog who saved the planet dozens of times. Sonic got closer to the vehicle, and low and behold, it was Eggman and his two robots Orbot and Cubot.

"Eggman?!" Sonic exclaimed.

Sonic could see that despite the crash, Eggman was completely unharmed and was fully conscious. Eggman looked up to the blue hedgehog.

"S-Sonic?!" Eggman said, stunned that he somehow ended up crashing landing near him. "L-Look I'm not here to cause any trouble!"

Sonic wasn't buying it. "That's bull Eggman. I know you're here to search for the Chaos Emeralds."

Eggman stammered. "How could I possibly want to look for Emeralds at a time like this?!" Eggman stood up and directed Sonic's attention to his Eggmobile. "I mean look at my vehicle Sonic; it's totaled!"

Sonic crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "Well, I guess you may have a point."

Just then, two familiar robots rolled out from the wreckage: Orbot and Cubot.

"Ugh…" Cubot groaned. "What happened?" Then he felt something on his head. "Huh- OH NO! My beautiful cube shaped head!" There was a very noticeable, large dent on the center of his head. Cubot was on the verge of crying.

Orbot was a bit disoriented from the crash. But when he heard his Cubot whining about his incident, Orbot came to his senses.

"Oh do shut up Cubot…" He said. "You're a robot for crying out loud; it's not the end of the world for you."

"Alright shut up, everyone! Sonic said in annoyance. "Seriously, you three got a lot of nerve to show your faces around here."

"And since you decided to drop in Eggman, I got no choice but to turn you in to the authorities."

Eggman grew startled. He did absolutely nothing wrong for an entire year, which was a new record for him, and now he was being arrested. _Typical…_

"Ok Sonic, if you want me to turn myself in, I will…" Eggman said in a defeated tone.

Sonic grinned. "Well, this is new. Turning yourself in huh? I like the sound of that."

But Eggman looked up at Sonic with a sinister smile, pressing a button at the same time. Suddenly, a large net flew out towards Sonic.

Within an instant, Sonic quickly dodged the net.

"Ha! You call that a trap? That's the lamest trick you've ever tried to pull off."

But Eggman wasn't quite done yet; his Eggmobile somehow began to transform, taking on the shape of a mini mech.

"It's a good thing I installed that Eggmobile mech program." Eggman remarked.

The two robots were helplessly left on the ground to watch the battle about to take place.

"Uh oh, here we go again…" Orbot groaned.

Sonic however wasn't angry or worried; in fact he was actually super stoked to finally have a battle against Eggman again.

"Alright Egghead! If it's a fight you want, then it's a fight you'll get!" Sonic shouted triumphantly.

"Oh you've have no idea how long I've missed this…" Eggman said. "Now Sonic, prepare to meet your doom!"

_To be continued..._


	10. Scrambling the Eggman

_**Author's Note: **Both me and JustThatOneFox __sincerely apologize for the late upload. Things as of late have been… complicated per say. The month of November was a real hurdle for us, but luckily, we have returned safe and sound to continue here._

_For this chapter, I do apologize for it being shorter than usual. We believed that if I managed to squeeze in a chapter for you all, you wouldn't think that we were dead._

_Thank you all for your patience, and if you enjoy the story, please leave a review and let me know your thoughts!_

_Enjoy!_

* * *

"Let's do it!" Sonic shouted out loud. At breakneck speed, Sonic darted towards Eggman's mech.

_Hmm, a Spindash should take out this piece of junk in no time._

Sonic curled into a ball and began to spin rapidly. He flew right towards the robot and expected to destroy it, but things didn't go as planned. A force field caused Sonic's attack to be deflected. And him as well.

"Darn it!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Oh ho ho!" Eggman laughed at the top of his lungs. "Are you surprised, Sonic? This mech may not be as powerful as my other mechs, but it surely has a wide arsenal of defenses!"

Sonic showed frustration on his face.

"Grr… I gotta take out that shield."

Sonic wasn't given much time to think about his next move, because a large metallic claw was heading straight for him. Quickly, Sonic dodged the incoming attack.

"Gah! Not fast enough!" Eggman said, frustrated.

Sonic ran around the robot, avoiding the multitude of attacks that it was throwing at him. There had to be some way that he could disable its defenses, he knew that simply throwing attacks at the mech wouldn't make it budge. Then Eggman's mech began to overheat after its flurry of attacks.

"What?! The controls won't respond!" Eggman panicked as he tried to boot up the control system.

Sonic smirked. This was his opening for attack.

"Hyah!" Sonic performed a homing attack right on the center of the robot, crippling it.

"What's wrong Eggman? Your robot not living up to its name?"

"Grr… SILENCE YOU BLUE NUISANCE!"

Eggman launched even more missiles from his mech, hoping that one of them would hit Sonic.

"Some things never change…" Sonic shrugged, and quickly dodged all the incoming missiles. He ran vertically up a nearby tree, backflipping off of it. He struck a pose mid-air, curled into a ball and landed another hit on the mech.

"This can't be happening!" Eggman started to panic as his mech started to emit smoke from its engine.

"Ooh, I smell victory!" Sonic remarked.

"SHUT UP, SONIC!" Eggman yelled. "Surely you can't escape THIS!"

Eggman pressed a button on his control panel. Suddenly the mech opened and revealed a large gun of sorts. Except this wasn't a gun, it was a laser. Almost immediately, a fiery red beam emitted from the weapon, targeting the blue hedgehog.

"Oh crap!" Sonic shouted.

He ran as fast as he could to avoid the beam of hot energy. Before the beam could hit him, Sonic did a side-step to the right so the beam could hit the ground instead. But unfortunately, when the beam made contact, it created a small explosion that caused the hedgehog to fly a few feet away. Sonic collided with the ground, grunting as he rolled on the earth a few times before stopping.

"Ouch…"

Sonic pushed himself up the ground with his arms and tried to get back into focus. Once his vision returned to normal, the hero hissed through his teeth when a burning pain hit his left side. His green eyes looked to see what was causing the pain. As it turned out, some of the fire from the blast hit his left side, leaving a nasty burn.

"Ruined my fur, huh? You're gonna pay for THAT Eggman…" Sonic said quietly to himself. He got up as quickly as he could, and glared at his enemy.

"Oh ho ho ho!" Eggman chortled. "Trying to act brave, I see! No matter, you'll be turned to nothing but ashes very shortly."

Another beam of energy fired at Sonic. He did his best to dodge the beam, but his injury made it harder to run. Sonic narrowly missed the beam, tumbling to the ground in even more pain. Eggman's mech approached closer to Sonic.

"Ugh…" Sonic winced in pain.

A dark shadow soon loomed over him.

"Any last words, hedgehog?" Eggman said.

"He's got nothing to say to you, Eggman!" A random voice shouted from afar.

"What?! Who said that!?" Eggman searched for the owner of the voice, but no one was in sight. Suddenly a yellow beam of energy hit his mech out of nowhere, crippling the machine.

"NOOO!" Eggman yelled.

Sonic smiled, knowing who his savior was. He looked to the sky and saw his best bud Tails in his plane, alongside with Illusien in the backseat.

"Alright, Tails! Whoop Whoop!" Sonic shouted at his friend.

The pilot of the Tornado smiled and nodded down to his blue friend. His focus turned to landing the plane to the ground. After a successful landing, Tails immediately jump out of the plane to rush to his injured friend, who was slowly getting up while trying to ignore the pain on his side.

"Sonic, are you alright?" The fox asked with a worried look.

Illusien hopped out of the Tornado and rushed over to both of them. The hero pulled off a smile at the concerned sidekick while trying to hide his injured side.

"Ya I'm fine, buddy! That robot was a piece of cake." The blue speedster assured him.

But Tails caught a glimpse of Sonic's side that was covered by a gloved hand. Despite trying to hide it, there were dry spots of blood around the glove, even some on the once pure white fabric. Tails looked at the hedgehog, who was clenching his jaw to endure the pain.

"Come on, Sonic. You don't need to hide your injuries from me." The kitsune said to him.

Sonic, seeing his friend won't step down, sighed before lifting his bloody gloved hand to show his burn mark. The two-tailed fox immediately went to examine the wound.

"Oof, that looks bad. But don't worry, I'll get you to the lab and I'll have you patched up in no time!" Tails exclaimed with a grin.

"Thanks Tails, I knew I could count on ya." Sonic winked.

Illusien walked over the bald mustached man who was wallowing in shame. She looked down at the doctor and spoke to him.

"Who are you?" She asked curiously.

Sonic and Tails quickly noticed who Illusien was talking to, and walked over to her right away.

"Don't talk to this guy, Illusien, he's no good." Sonic said to her.

"Ya Illusien." Tails added. "Eggman is a mad scientist that has countlessly tried to conquer the world, yet he has failed every time."

"Oh, really? That's who he is, huh?" Illusien replied.

The three of them looked down at Eggman, who was still lying on the ground in shame.

"Grr… you insolent pests! I'll have you know I'm-"

_***KA-BOOM***_

"AAAAAHHHHH!" Eggman screamed.

His battle mech just exploded, sending him and his robots across the valley in Team Rocket fashion.

"We will cross paths again, hedgehog!" Eggman angrily said from far away; his voice echoing.

Sonic, Tails and Illusien just stared off into the distance.

"Well, that takes care of Eggman for now." Sonic smirked, dusting off his hands.

Tails and Illusien looked at each other, and both of them just shrugged. Sonic hopped onto the wing of the plane, wincing slightly as he landed. The two foxes climbed into each seat of the plane, and with the simple flick of a switch, the engine roared to life.

"Alright Tails, whenever you're ready!" Sonic shouted over the loud noise of the engine.

Tails nodded, taking the plane off into the skies. High above the clouds, Sonic felt like he was riding on the wind. (Which of course he has done.) Not only that, it allowed Sonic to think about things.

"_Why the heck would Eggman crash land in the middle of the forest?" _Sonic thought to himself.

He couldn't quite put his finger on it. He figured it was just sheer coincidence that he landed there. So he pushed the idea into the back of his mind, and turned his attention to a new subject: How Tails found him.

"Hey, Tails?"

"Yeah, Sonic?

"How did you find me? There's no way you could have known that I was going out for a run in the middle of some random forest."

"Well, I'll give you a hint Sonic. Take a look at your communicator."

Sonic was a bit puzzled when he said that, but he checked anyways. He could see that his watch was completely busted, with small sparks flying out and many pieces missing.

"I don't get it… my device got damaged during my battle with Eggman."

"That's exactly how I found you Sonic. You see, I have a GPS located that can pinpoint all users who have a comms device. So when you broke it Sonic, I got an instant notification that you went off the grid. Which also meant that you must have been in trouble. Does that answer your question, Sonic?"

Sonic smirked, of course his little brother had to respond like that. "Yeah Tails, I know what you mean." Sonic had no idea how any of the stuff worked, but he just went with it.

"Oh and Tails, thanks for saving me."

Tails gave Sonic a quick solute. "Anytime, Sonic!"

Tails checked his navigation panel; they were close by to his place.

"Alright everyone, I'm coming in for a landing. We should be home in a matter of minutes."

_-o-_

Tails had successfully landed his plane, and the three of them were already walking through the front door of the house.

"Ahh, home sweet home." Sonic said aloud. "Hey Tails, so in the lab, you left that medical stuff in there?"

"Oh, yeah, if you just look for the red box with the white cross on it, you should find it. And don't forget: apply medicinal spray first, then use bandages."

"Yeah, yeah, I get the idea Tails. I'll be out of the lab in a few minutes." Sonic walked into the lab and closed the door behind him.

Tails sighed in relief and plopped himself down on the couch.

"Man… what a day…" Tails said as he slouched further on the couch.

"_And to think that a day at the mall with Illusien and Amy was going to go well… ugh…"_ Tails thought as his mind looked back to earlier in the day.

_*Flashback ensues*_

_To be continued..._


	11. Shopping is a Virtue

_Flashback to an event from earlier…_

Tails and the two girls were all aboard the Tornado, heading towards Metropolis. Though it wasn't a peaceful flight. Unfortunately for the two-tailed kitsune, Amy had been babbling the entire flight.

"Oh Illusien, you have no idea what Metropolis has in store for you!" Amy squealed. "First, I'll take you to the new and hip coffee shop, then, we'll go to the mall and get you the cutest outfit."

Illusien smiled happily to the idea of trying out new things. Intrigued by it, she willingly kept listening.

"Oh! That reminds me, we need to stop by the makeup outlet. Or maybe buy dresses, or maybe…"

"COULD YOU FOR ONCE SHUT YOUR PIE-HOLE, AMY?!" Tails angrily shouted at her. "_Now I know how Sonic feels…"_

"Don't shout at me, Tails! It's just that I finally get the chance to show the new girl in town all there is to living life to the fullest!"

"Does spending ten hours in the mall sound like 'living life to the fullest' to you?" Tails retorted.

"Hmpf. You're no fun, Tails." Amy pouted, crossing her arms.

Illusien could see what was happening and decided to change the atmosphere of the conversation.

"Tails?" Illusien asked, tapping on Tails' shoulder.

"Y-Ya? You need something, Illusien?"

"Oh no, I'm quite fine actually. But I did want to say maybe you should apologize to Amy. She didn't intend to get on your nerves."

Tails cringed a little bit, rubbing the back of his head. Maybe he was a bit too harsh with Amy. He looked into Illusien's deep, purple eyes. Though there was a plain look on her face, he could somehow feel her energy; that she wanted him to apologize right now.

_*sigh*_

"Okay Illusien, I'll apologize…" Tails muttered.

Illusien smiled, and gave Tails a quick hug. "Thanks, Tails."

Tails blushed when she gave him a hug. The short-lived embrace felt so warm, and Tails enjoyed every moment of it. Illusien let go of him, allowing Tails to go ahead and make his apology.

"Hey Amy, I'm… sorry." Tails said to her, turning to look at her. Of course she was still pouting, so it meant he had to keep talking.

"And… I'm also sorry for yelling at you… and saying mean things…"

Amy unfolded her arms and smiled. "I forgive you, Tails."

Tails smiled just a little bit, and turned his attention to flying the plane once again. The bitter tension from a few moments before was now cleared up. Now it was time to make way for Metropolis.

"Alright girls, we'll be at Metropolis very soon!"

The two of them cheered loudly, but Tails wasn't exactly cheering.

"_Chaos have mercy on my soul…"_ Tails thought anxiously. Being the only boy in the group, he knew he was doomed from the start.

_-o-_

Tails had finally reached Metropolis, the greatest city center in all of Mobius. He landed his plane just outside of the city area on a runway, and now him and the girls were making their way into the city.

"Okay, can we all agree that we need to stick together?" Tails said to the two of them.

"Oh sure, Tails!" Illusien answered.

"Are you kidding? I'm going to take Illusien with me wherever I go!" Amy exclaimed. "Won't you, Illusien?"

"Umm… sure?"

"Don't worry Illusien, I'm going to make you look so pretty and teach you how to be a proper woman."

Illusien laughed nervously, her eyes wandering over to Tails. She then wondered what he would have to do while they shopped.

"_Poor Tails, he'll probably end up being bored." _She thought.

Illusien came up with an idea. "Hey Amy, you said that you wanted to help me find an outfit, right?"

"Yeah, of course!"

"So then if we finish early enough, maybe all three of us can explore the city and do fun things?"

Amy took a moment to consider. "Hmm… yeah sure, we can do that." Amy smiled.

"Great!"

Tails looked over to Amy and Illusien. All he could see were just two girls having fun.

"You two are getting along quite well." Tails mentioned. "And I am glad that you girls are having fun, but it's not even begun yet, now has it?"

Then, the sound of people and loud cars roaring through the streets could be heard in the distance. They must have been very close to the main gate of the city.

"C'mon Illusien! We have no time to waste!" Amy hurriedly took hold of Illusien's hand and darted for the entrance.

Tails' eyes grew wide, and followed after them.

"H-Hey wait up!" _How does that girl have so much strength and speed?_ he wondered.

Soon enough, the three of them had arrived at the main gate, and the sights were just breathtaking. Illusien was the one who was in pure awe the most, considering she had never seen such an amazing city such as this.

"Oh my… it's the most wonderful thing I've ever laid my eyes upon…" Illusien said in amazement, looking at all the tall skyscrapers and Mobians bustling throughout the city.

Amy chimed in. "If you think that all of THIS is great, just wait and see when you visit the mall."

"The mall…" Illusien said curiously.

"Let's get going right away!"

Again, Amy grabbed hold of Illusien's hand and they both took off towards the mall, leaving Tails in the dust.

_*sigh*_

"_So much for sticking together…" _Tails silently said to himself. He spun his two tails, and followed suit of the girls, flying towards the mall.

_-o-_

"Okay, we're here!" Amy said.

Illusien took a moment to catch her breath. The pink hedgehog was quite fast for her, and nearly ripped her arm off. She rolled her stiff shoulder until it felt better.

"Jeez Amy, could you try slowing down a bit?" Illusien asked, panting.

Tails then flew down from above and landed and attended to Illusien. "Yeah I'll say. When it comes to the mall, Amy doesn't mess around." Tails laughed.

"Say all you want, Tails." Amy muttered, then turned back to Illusien with a huge smile. "Just look at this place!"

Illusien took a good look at the huge building. The mall was massive, filled with many Mobians and humans coming in and out with bags and clothes of all sorts. She was overwhelmed with all of the hustle and bustle.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go on in!" Amy said. She took Illusien's hand, leading her into the vast mall.

At first it was a bit awkward for Illusien to get used to her surroundings… All of the clothing stores, gift shops, food courts… it was a lot for her to take in. But with the help of Amy and her sense of fashion, she started to have lots of fun. They visited nearly every store the mall had to offer, buying many things in the process. Yet, despite having bought stuff, Illusien didn't have a unique outfit of her own. So they found themselves in one last store, searching for an outfit.

However, Tails was not having a lot of fun. He sat impatiently on a small and uncomfortable chair in the store. The poor kitsune was forced to wait for Illusien while she tried on a series of outfits, while Amy went to fetch some drinks at a new place called "Deerbucks Coffee." Tails had his arms crossed and his muzzle tucked safely away in his tuft of white fur. He looked around him and all he saw were girls. Each of them gave them Tails small winks. Poor Tails felt so embarrassed and uncomfortable being the only boy in the all-girls store. He wrapped his twin tails around his face to hide his embarrassment.

"Illusien, could you please hurry up?" He said impatiently.

"In a second! I'm not skilled at this." Her voice chirped from out of his vision.

Tails scoffed. "Illusien, you've been trying on different outfits every since Amy left… and that was two hours ago…"

Tails hoped that she would finish soon. He wanted to go back to the comfort of his home and pass the time away by working on his plane, or fix gadgets, or just sleep.

"_This is the last time I ever agree to go to the mall…"_ he muttered under his breath.

"Okay, I think I found an outfit… Amy suggested this one for me. I'll come out so I can show you." Illusien said from behind the door.

Tails sighed, at last she was done with something.

"Alright Illusien, just come out already so we can go home."

Slowly, the door opened, and Tails could not believe what he was seeing. There was Illusien, wearing a crystal white dress with a deep violet robe draped over. The robe was clasped across her chest with a silver cord that was fastened by gold buttons. The back of the robe cradled her neck with a silver collar, and her feet were adorned with tan sandals that had a teal fabric wrapping up her legs.

"So… what do you think? You like it?" Illusien asked him.

Tails just kind of sat there speechless, not to mention he was completely in awe. He stuttered as he tried to get some words out of his mouth.

"U-uh… w-well you…" Tails struggled to speak. If he kept going at this rate he would probably pass out.

"_She's just so beautiful…" _Tails thought in his mind. "_Must… act natural…"_

Illusien was still standing there in front of Tails, seeing the shocked look on his face.

"Uh Tails, are you having a flashback or something? Cause you're kind of worrying me."

Tails snapped back into reality. "Oh yeah, your dress looks totally cool!" He said in an unnatural fashion.

"Really?! You like it?!" Illusien asked with joy. "Then it's settled, I'm going to ask Amy to buy this for me when she gets back!" The black fox skipped over to Tails, and she gave him a quick hug.

"Thanks for the help, Tails!" Illusien said, and she went back into the changing room.

Tails would have said something back, but the inner machinations of his mind were completely scrambled; he was flustered with both excitement and embarrassment.

Just then, Amy finally came back from Deerbucks with a tray of coffee in her hands.

"Hey Tails, I got you that latte you like. Tails?" Amy looked to see Tails with the dumbest look written all over his face. She thought he had seen a ghost or something.

"I'm just going to leave this latte here…" Amy put the drink on the table in front of him. "... and I'm going to go help Illusien, Bye!"

_-o-_

At last, what seemed like an eternity, the three of them were finally leaving the mall. Illusien and Amy were happily talking to each other, while Tails had to carry tons of bags for them.

"Oh yay! That was so much fun!" Amy squealed with joy.

Illusien nodded in response. "Yeah you said it!" she winked, then turned her attention to Tails. "But I don't think Tails had such a good time though…"

Amy disregarded Tails and went on talking about what they did today. "Oh Illusien, today was so swell. The best part: we got you that cute outfit!"

Illusien looked down at her outfit. She did look very pretty. "Why thanks Amy."

"Don't mention it! I could only imagine how much happier I'd be if Sonic were here…"

Illusien silently stepped away from Amy to leave her to her thoughts. She walked right alongside Tails and saw how much he struggled whilst he carried the bags.

"Here, let me help you out Tails." Illusien waved her hand in a certain motion, and then a purple glow started to emit from her hands.

Tails immediately dropped the bags and grabbed onto her hands. "No Illusien!"

They both looked at each other with odd looks. Tails then realized that he was holding her hands hands, feeling a gentle warmth. He quickly pulled his hands away in embarrassment.

"S-Sorry about that. It's just that you shouldn't be using your powers in public."

"Oh, I didn't know. But why can't I use them?"

"Well you see, Mobians and humans alike fear the unknown, and your powers are an example of the unknown."

Illusien's ears fell slightly. "But I'm not hurting anyone…"

"Yes, I know, but that's just the way things are here on Mobius." Tails felt bad for making her feel bad; seeing her sad expression for the first time made him want to make amends.

"You know something that can cheer you up?"

"What?"

"Let's go for a ride in the Tornado and you'll see."

Tails and Illusien both took off towards the plane, leaving an unaware Amy behind.

_-o-_

"WOOHOO! This is amazing, Tails!" Illusien shouted.

Tails had taken Illusien high in the sky with the Tornado, and he was performing near-perfect loops and barrel rolls like it was nothing.

"See? I told you that would have fun!" Tails said.

"No kidding! I feel so alive right now!" Illusien let the wind flow through her hair and around her as she closed her eyes to take in the pure fresh air.

Tails smiled, he was glad that he was able to make Illusien feel happy again.

***Ding***

The noise caught Tails off guard, as well as Illusien.

"What was that noise, Tails?" Illusien asked.

"That's my alert message. I wonder what it could be."

Tails went ahead and checked. According to the scanner, Sonic's communicator had gone offline without any cause.

"_Sonic wouldn't be so careless to turn off his device…"_ Tails thought silently. "_No… something's amiss."_

"Hey Illusien, we need to go find Sonic. I think he might be in trouble." Tails told her.

Illusien gave a thumbs up to the kitsune. "No problem Tails! Let's go save him!"

Tails smirked, set a destination point toward Sonic's last known location, and they took off.

_End of flashback…_

"Hmm, I guess today wasn't SO bad." Tails said to himself as he sat comfortably on his living room couch.

Then Sonic came out of the lab, with his wound being cleaned up and bandaged.

"Yo thanks Tails for the supplies, I could've been a goner. Ha ha!" Sonic sound with sarcasm. Sonic noticed the look on his brother's face. "Hey Tails, you cool buddy?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah I'm fine. Just thinking that's all." Tails quickly said.

Sonic's eyebrows furrowed, then he slyly grinned. "You're thinking about _her_ again, aren't you?"

Tails' face turned red instantly. "It-It's not like that, Sonic!"

Sonic laughed as he turned his back and headed towards the kitchen. "Keep telling yourself that, Tails." He snickered.

Tails folded his arms in anger. "_Pfft… what does he know about feelings anyway? Might I remind him that Amy has a serious crush on him…" _then realization hit him. "CRAP! I forgot about Amy!"

_Meanwhile at the mall…_

"TAILS YOU NO GOOD LITTLE SON OF A STREET RAT!" Amy shouted furiously.

_To be continued..._

Author's Note: Hello, I hope you enjoyed this chapter of _Twisted Reality_! I'm just as excited as hopefully some of you are that this chapter got up quicker than the last one was...

Now, I know this book has been the only updated book recently, so I'm announcing now that I'm working on a one-shot that will be a teaser for a new installment of the _War Over Mobius Saga_ that warrants its own route, a different type of Forces story called _For Amara_. I don't plan on publishing the actual new installment yet, as I have a lot of things to handle, both IRL and with the rest of my stories and other works. Plus, I haven't written the book yet, just a few scenes near the ending that were one-shots and/or former contest entries that are becoming canon with this book, and several ideas written down on what I'd like it to be.

Hopefully will see y'all soon with a new update of this book!


	12. Feelings

Tails was still slouching on his couch. He was still in deep thought about Illusien; man, how much he was crushing on her. It was almost kind of unhealthy for him, or was it? Truth be told, he didn't really know.

_*sigh*_

"Ugh… I need to clear my mind." Tails said to himself. He looked around for something to do.

"Kitchen is already clean… rooms have been fixed up…" Tails noted as he scanned his eyes across the room. But then his eyes fell on Illusien, and he suddenly felt like he was under a spell.

She was casually just minding her own business; examining every detail that the house had to offer. Tails saw how her shiny, black coat fur and her new gray dress further exemplified her beauty.

Tails was too dazed, and failed to notice that Illusien was staring right at him with confusion.

"Umm, Tails, are you feeling okay?" She asked.

Tails mumbled a few words. "Did I die and go to heaven…?"

"Huh? Come on Tails, snap out of it." Illusien gently put her hands on his shoulders, and shook him.

Tails then snapped out of his daze.

"Say what?! Oh! Hey Illusien, I was umm… nothing?" Tails nervously said.

Illusien raised an eyebrow at him. "Tails, I've only known you for a couple days and I'm pretty sure I've never seen you do nothing." She retorted.

"So tell me…" Illusien innocently plopped herself on Tails' lap, and she wrapped her arms around him. Not completely, but just a little bit. "... what's been troubling you?"

Tails couldn't answer that question. His heart raced wildly, and all because his crush was clearly right on top of him, both literally and figuratively. He blushed wildly as he did his best to hide it. But of course, the black fox clearly saw this.

"Hey Tails, your face is red again." Illusien mentioned. "Are you sick or some-"

Tails quickly got up from the couch, pushing Illusien off of him and cutting her off in the middle of her sentence.

"Wow, would you look at the time!? It's getting late again, I think I should head back to my lab now and go to work on a few things!" He blurted out.

Tails ran for the lab door and looked back at Illusien one last time.

"There's food in the fridge if you want any."

Illusien raised a finger to ask what he was so nervous about, but she was cut off once again.

"Anyways I'll be busy in my lab, bye!" And Tails shut the door, locking it.

Poor Illusien had a hard time understanding why Tails acted so funny around her; let alone as to why he always ran off soon after.

"Why does that two-tailed fox always have something on his mind?" She asked herself.

She then activated her powers for a brief moment, examining them. Her palms glowed a dark purple, slightly pulsing different shades and flickering like a flame burning on a candle.

_Could Tails… be afraid of my powers? _She thought.

Then a voice interrupted her thoughts.

"You doin' alright, Illusien?" Sonic called out to her.

She looked behind her, startled, seeing the blue hedgehog snacking on some Cheese Cheetah Chips.

"Oh, Sonic! You scared me for a second there."

"Sorry about that Illusien." Sonic apologized. "Say… wasn't Tails just here a minute ago?"

"Actually, he just quickly got up and went to his lab or something…"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Let me guess: he was acting weird again?"

Illusien nodded in response. "Yeah! It's so weird that he does that."

Sonic put his bag of chips down and walked over to the living room. He plopped himself on the couch and proceeded to talk.

"Hey Illusien… do you know **why** Tails acted like that?"

"Well umm….. no?"

Oh boy… Sonic silently said to himself. _Now I have to explain, ugh…_

"Well, there's really no easy way to say this… he likes you." Sonic flatly answered. _Actually… that wasn't so hard to say at all._

"Of course Tails likes me, he's my friend!" Illusien said happily.

Sonic face palmed. "No, no, no you don't quite understand. I mean, he's crushing on you. -Wait, that's a metaphor you probably won't understand.- What I'm trying to say is that he likes you more than just a friend."

Illusien had a hard time understanding still. "So… he wants to mate then?"

Sonic's eyes went wide, and because of his carelessness, his food went down the wrong pipe and he started to choke.

Sonic coughed uncontrollably, slamming a fist against his chest. With a few more gags, he finally spat out some unchewed chips. He looked at Illusien awkwardly. She was about to say something, but Sonic cut her off.

"Number 1: Forget you saw that. Number 2: I don't think Tails, or you, are ready to make **that** kind of move yet…" Sonic said awkwardly.

There was still some tension in the air; both the hedgehog and the black fox were turned away from one another to avoid the extreme awkwardness.

After what felt like an eternity, Sonic finally spoke up.

"Umm, you know what, I just remembered I forgot to clean my shoes…. again…"

Illusien looked down, only to see that his shoes were completely fine.

"I don't understand, your shoes are-" Illusien didn't get the chance to finish when she felt a gust of wind. She turned and saw that Sonic was nowhere to be seen.

_*sigh*_

"Okay, I'll talk to you later then…" Illusien hunched over, putting her hands beneath her chin for support.

She struggled to wrap her head around the idea of 'liking' Tails. Sure the two of them were good friends, but she had only known him for just a few days. So did she even have the right to say that they were friends?

Not to mention the other events from before: Tails acting strange around her, Sonic cringing when she mentioned "mating". Illusien shook her head in confusion.

"Ugh… Sonic doesn't know what he's talking about. Tails is my friend and there's nothing wrong about that." Illusien got up from the couch and turned her head towards the lab.

"In fact, I'm going to go mingle with Tails just to prove him wrong. We're just friends, yeah…" She told herself.

Illusien approached the door and happily knocked on the wood.

_*Knock Knock*_

"Uh, yeah who is it?" Tails said from the other side.

"It's-a-me, Illusien!" She giggled. (She had played some games earlier revolving around some Italian plumber guy.)

"O-Oh, Illusien! Umm, would it be okay you can come back later? I'm kind of busy." Tails asked, sounding a bit distressed.

Illusien's sweet little smile dropped a little, but she refused to get saddened. She felt worried about Tails and wanted to talk.

"Look Tails, I'm worried about you… I mean first you're acting funny at the mall, then you run away from me here at the house, what's going on with you?"

Tails sighed deeply; he did want some privacy but he also didn't want to break Illusien's heart. After all, she sounded like she was deeply concerned about him, and maybe this could be the chance where he opens up a bit about his feelings.

Hesitantly, Tails unhooked the lock on the door, allowing Illusien to be able to open the door.

"You can come in." Tails spoke.

The door cracked open; Illusien peeked her head into the room, seeing that Tails had his head down on the table.

"Hi Tails, I just wanted to see how you were doing." She kindly spoke.

Tails smiled. "Well… thanks for stopping by." The kitsune turned his attention towards some new gadget that he was working on, tinkering with it.

Illusien took interest in his work.

"So, what are you working on Tails?" She asked.

"Oh, just some new flying gadget I've been working on for a few weeks."

He opened a drawer underneath the table and pulled out a rough sketch of a mechanical flicky.

"It's supposed to be like a spy camera, disguised as a small bird. But I'm having trouble with getting the wings to open when it's turned on." The fox put down the blueprint and sighed heavily.

Illusien put carefully put her hand on Tails' shoulder. The moment Tails felt her delicate touch, his head sharply jolted up. She slightly backed off.

"S-sorry Tails." She quickly apologized.

"No it's…. it's alright." Tails relaxed in his chair. "I'm just not used to that… sorry if I scared you."

"No no, I'm sorry that I-"

"No Illusien, I'm sorry-"

"CAN YOU TWO LOVE BIRDS CALM IT!?" Sonic yelled from upstairs.

The two foxes looked at each other with a blank stare, and then they broke out laughing. After a few seconds, they both looked at each other with awkwardness.

"Um… I should get back to work. Heh heh…" Tails once again turned his attention back to his work. "Here, take a seat next to me Illusien."

"Oh, why thank you Tails." She smiled and sat down right next to him.

She watched very closely as Tails very carefully fused microchips into place. For Illusien, all of this was so intriguing to her, since her world was so bleak and desolate. Illusien looked up, now paying attention to his face. She had never seen a person like Tails so focused and devoted to his hobby. First a hero, then a genius. Tails never ceased to surprise her.

Then, she felt an odd feeling come over her.

"_Why do I feel warm and… fuzzy?" _She thought.

Never once in her life had she ever had a feeling like this. Was it because she never had a physical body before? No, it couldn't have been. (Don't ask how the spirits of the Phantom Realm mated, it just works.)

"Hey uh, Tails? Any chance that it's getting… I don't know, hot in here?" Illusien breathed heavily.

Tails scratched his ear in confusion. "No, we're at a normal room temperature, so you should be fine." He continued to see Illusien pant, perhaps something was wrong.

"Uh Illusien, are you sick?" He asked with worry.

"No I… I'm not sick." She panted. "But I don't know what this is I'm feeling."

She stood up from her chair and started to pace around the room.

"Ugh, maybe it's this clothing." She guessed. "Maybe if I just take it off…" Before she was about to take such an action, Tails scrambled to his feet.

"NO! Don't do that here!" He yelled.

"Oh, okay." Illusien let go of her clothes.

"It's actually getting late anyways, so it's best if we get some sleep anyway." Tails mentioned.

"But, it's not that late..." She said.

"Oh well, we can talk more in the morning. Now go on, off to bed." Tails ushered her out of the room.

"Now just hold on Tails." Illusien stopped just before she reached the door, facing him. "Why are you always in a rush to push me away whenever… I don't know... when this happens?"

She quickly embraced Tails in a hug, and as she predicted, his face turned completely red. However, only this time, she wasn't letting go.

"H-Hey Illusien, you can let go now…" Tails said, but with a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"No Tails, please, tell me why you get like this." She asked once again.

Tails struggled to get out the hug. The longer it lasted, the more he felt his heart rate increase.

"I-I can't…"

"Please tell me, Tails."

Then, Tails did something that he thought was crazy: he kissed her.

For a short moment, Illusien was shocked. But after a few seconds passed, she began to enjoy the feeling, as did Tails. They both just stood there, embracing each other in a kiss. What seemed like forever, they finally pulled away from their kiss; their eyes meeting.

"What I mean to say is… I like you Illusien. _Really_ like you…" Tails said to her.

"I… like you too Tails…" Illusien answered in return.

And then, they both started to kiss again.

…

"Tails? Tails, are you alright?" Illusien asked.

The kit snapped out of his daydream, and hastily replied.

"Huh, what? Oh! Sorry, I zoned out…" he said. "I guess I'm just tired, that's all."

"Well if that's the case Tails, go ahead and get some rest then." She went to the lab door, getting ready to leave. She looked back one last time to Tails.

"You sure you don't need company tonight?" Illusien asked.

Tails shook his head side to side. "No it's alright, I'll be fine Illusien, honest."

"Well if you say so." She shrugged. "See you in the morning then, Tails!" And she closed the door.

Tails sighed heavily, and threw himself down onto his bed.

"Curse these teenage hormones…" he muttered.

He realized that in his daydream, he kissed Illusien. What was he thinking? Was he going nuts or something? If he kept making it obvious that he had feelings for her, he was sure he would drive her away.

_I need to sleep… maybe only then will these feelings go away. _And just like that, he fell into a peaceful sleep.

…

Illusien was in the restroom, getting ready to sleep. She was happy because this time she would be sleeping in her own room, her own privacy.

As she continued to brush her luscious hair, she thought about Tails again.

_Hmm, I wonder what that feeling was… _she pondered. _Could it have been… no, it couldn't have. Sonic can't be right. Can he?_

Illusien simply shrugged, and went about her business for the rest of the night.

_-o-_

_Meanwhile, elsewhere, in the outer rims of Mobius…_

A familiar black and red blur zoomed through a dense, snowy forest. Shadow was on a particular mission; it was given to him by the higher-ups of the G.U.N organization.

"_**Come in Shadow, do you copy? Over."**_

Shadow heard his communicator go off, and he lifted his wrist towards mouth.

"This is Agent Shadow, I'm en route towards the location." He answered. Shadow continued to skate with ease through the forest.

Shadow was sent on an assassination mission, and his target was a certain Mobian who had caused mass amounts of destruction during the war. He was given a bolt action sniper rifle, equipped with thermal optics and a bipod. He was going to take out the target from a distance during the night.

After a few more minutes of navigating the forest, he finally spotted some light and smoke within the distance.

_Hmm, that looks like the spot. _Shadow deducted. "This is Agent Shadow, I believe I've found the destination target."

"_**Very good, Agent Shadow. We'll meet at the rendezvous at 2200."**_

"Understood."

Shadow approached what appeared to be a campsite. There was a nice, dark and hidden spot not that far from the campsite. It would provide great cover during the nighttime assassination. He went prone, and very carefully, placed his sniper rifle on the ground.

"Now, let's see who the target is…"

Shadow, placing his right eye through the scope, zoomed in on the fire lit area. There, he saw him, the most vile creature known to Mobian kind…

"Infinite…"

_To be continued..._


	13. Target in Sight

Author's Note:

Before I let you all continue onto this next chapter, I just wanted to take a moment and say thank you for reading and following this story. You truly inspire me to continue working hard every day, thank you.

If you all want to express your thoughts, feel free to leave a review and PM me!

Hope you enjoy this new chapter!

* * *

Shadow continued to look through the scope lens. Through it, he could see Infinite pacing around the fire pit. The hedgehog brought the communicator towards his mouth.

"Shadow to HQ, I've spotted the target." He said to them.

"_**Very good, Agent S. Continue to monitor the target as we make our way to your location."**_

"Copy that." And Shadow signed off.

Shadow took a deep breath, and calmly breathed out. He tightened his grip on the rifle, and continued to pay attention.

Just then, Infinite stopped pacing. The jackal turned his head to the left, almost as if he was looking at something… or someone.

Infinite cautiously made his way towards a few bushes. (If he only knew someone was watching him.) The jackal reached his hand out towards the shrub, and another black and white hand grabbed onto Infinite's hand.

Shadow knew his suspicions were confirmed, but who exactly was this mystery figure? Once they stepped into the light by the fire, he would have his answer.

The figure stepped out by the fire, and Shadow was stunned; it was another jackal.

"What the… another jackal?" Shadow said with confusion. "But I thought that I eliminated them, except Infinite."

Shadow could see that the two jackals were speaking to each other. "Hmm, looks like it's time to put that drone to good use." He reached into his bag, revealing a metallic black drone. (Courtesy of G.U.N)

"Alright, this should do." He threw the drone into the air; with it taking flight immediately. The drone was completely dead silent and it was capable of capturing sound waves up to 5 miles away.

With the drone now in position, and Shadow eavesdropping on the two jackals, everything was in place for observation.

"What are you planning, Infinite…"

_…_

"You got back here pretty quickly, I expected you to be gone a little longer." Infinite stroked her hand, feeling two small bands of metal on one of her gloved fingers.

"That's probably because you're so used to being the top dog here that you thought anyone who attempted to do your job while you lie low is gonna be slow." She paused, then smirked slightly. "And also because you usually overestimate how long it takes to go places."

"You got me, Amara."

She chuckled and pulled his glove off and brought his hand into their common view. "I also gotcha this way too." She twisted the golden band around his finger, his wedding ring.

"Did you get me, or did I get you? Last time I checked, I wasn't the one everyone thought was hot."

"You are hot and Bloodpool knows it. They just learned not to touch what's mine." She leaned into him and placed her hand on the back of his neck.

"But apparently no one has any problems about flirting with my wife."

"You're hilarious. That's because most guys in Bloodpool think they're invincible, so they're gonna flirt with whatever girl they want, they're gonna drink whatever, and they think nothing can hurt them. Thankfully, you're not like that, but we both personally know two jackals who are." They both started laughing.

"I know **exactly** who you're talking about!" Their laughs turned into chuckles, then subsided.

"Speaking of Hunter and Remy, when should all of them be back?"

"QuickStrike went to talk with Cor I think… should be back anytime now, maybe five minutes? Hunter and Remy… who knows when? If they're at the bar, which I'd bet money that they are, they'll be back in ten to fifteen minutes, since Raziel will be throwing them out in about five…" She paused as if she was calculating something in her mind. "But that's only if they're at the bar, if not, no idea."

"Good, that makes them accountable, and gives me time to do this." He picked Amara up and pressed her against him.

"Infinite! You really think this is the best time?" She scolded him while she held onto his shoulders.

Infinite pressed his head up against hers and sat down with her. "No, not for that, but for this, we got time." He quickly locked his lips with her's in a passionate kiss.

The female jackal sounded a pleased noise that sounded something like purring as she kissed him back, then tipped him over playfully during a break in their fierce affection.

_…_

Back at the drone's controls, Shadow muttered with disbelief, and maybe a little disgust.

"I knew Infinite had a squad, but I had no clue he loved one of them…" Shadow said.

"_**Agent S, we are at the rendezvous. We are waiting on your mark to fire the Tase Bullet."**_

"Copy that, G.U.N." Shadow replied.

The ebony hedgehog then began to load the sniper rifle with the Tase Rounds. They weren't meant to kill the target, instead they were used to cripple a target for their arrest. Infinite was the main target that Shadow had to take down, and then the other soldiers would surround the other jackals.

_*Ca-clink*_

Shadow was done; The sniper was ready for use. Shadow aimed carefully at the jackal and he put his finger on the trigger.

But just as he was about to pull the trigger, the rest of Infinite's gang showed up. They ran through the shrubs, all of them greeting their leader.

_…_

"Glad we came back when we did, ain't that right, Amara?" Remy, a strongly built jackal with a green headband, playfully punched Amara's shoulder.

"Oh, please. You haven't even been back thirty seconds and you're already playing that card? I have decency and so does Infinite."

Hunter rolled his eyes. "Only because you knew that we'd be back quickly, otherwise you and the boss woulda been all-"

"ARRGH, Hunter!"

Both jackals began to cackle at her instant reaction. "We know you!"

Hunter smirked and leaned in closer to Amara's face. "Also, anyone who has _that_ type of reaction has gotta be doing _something_ she doesn't want others to know about."

"What I do in my own den with my husband is my personal business, keep your stupid thieving nose out of it!"

"What if I don't keep my nose out of it?" Hunter continued to smirk in Amara's face.

She stomped on his foot.

"OW! What the heck, Amara?!"

"_Quit it." _Infinite began with a warning tone. "Amara, don't bite him. Hunter and Remy, leave her alone!"

Amara huffed and turned her head in the direction opposite of Hunter then turned back to him and stuck her tongue out at him before turning away again, Hunter mumbled in a tone that mocked Amara while Remy just sighed.

_…_

Shadow didn't really know why he was hesitant on pulling the trigger, Infinite was notoriously known for taking over 99% of the damn planet. Shadow had no reason to be forgiving whatsoever.

"_**Come in Shadow, we are still awaiting the first shot. Hurry up and get it over with!" **_a G.U.N commander yelled over the comm link.

"Don't worry commander, there won't be any further delay." Shadow replied.

This time, the black hedgehog cocked back the bolt of the sniper rifle, and this time he wasn't gonna hesitate. He carefully aimed at his target, taking a deep breath and focusing.

"Sayonara, Infinite the Jackal…" he said silently.

"_Would you really pull the trigger, Shadow?" _A voice spoke to him.

Shadow immediately stopped breathing; his eyes and widening.

"WHO SAID THAT?!" Shadow turned around quickly, searching for the voice.

To his surprise though, there was no one behind him. Shadow relaxed his posture and slightly lowered his pistol.

"But I swear, I heard…"

"_You heard me, Shadow."_

Shadow's eyes shot wide open. "M-Maria… No… you're just in my head…"

"_Shadow… why would you want to bring harm to them?" _Maria spoke to him.

Shadow did his best to focus, but he couldn't help it. His emotional bond with Maria was too much for him to bear. The hedgehog felt like ripping small hairs from his quills in frustration. He felt like he had no choice but to talk to the imaginary Maria in his mind.

"Listen, I don't need to tell you nothing Maria… my conscience is clear: I **will **have Infinite taken out."

"_Tck- tck… Shadow, pulling that trigger would make you no better than the soldier who shot me." _Maria countered.

Shadow's ears slightly dropped, remembering his unfortunate past.

Maria continued to speak. "_From what I see, that jackal and his mate seem to have a deep relationship. Shadow, please, don't end their bond…"_

For a moment, Shadow was completely still; he still had his eyes locked on the couple and the rest of the squad down below. He felt pity for the jackal…

_No…_ Shadow thought.

Acting quickly, Shadow went prone on the ground and grabbed hold of the sniper. He aimed once again at the main target and rested his finger just above the trigger.

"Forgive me Maria… but Infinite can't get away with his crimes…" with that said, Shadow pulled the trigger.

_***BOOM! Ka-Chink***_

_…_

Infinite fell down on his knees as he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. He screamed in pain as he felt electric shocks throughout his body. Almost immediately, his entire squad knew they were being attacked.

But before they could defend themselves, clouds of white smoke appeared, impairing the jackals' vision.

"Go go go!" a G.U.N troop yelled out. Hundreds of troops surrounded the area, with each of them armed and ready.

Amara started to panic, but that didn't mean she was surrendering just yet.

"C'mon, Infinite, you gotta get up!" Amara shook him, hoping he would wake up from his unconsciousness. But unfortunately for her, Infinite wasn't waking up, and the troops had already surrounded them.

Just then, a tall and slender man walked into the open space within the artificial circle.

"You know, I am slightly surprised that there are more of you." He spoke.

Amara turned her head towards the leader; she snarled, showing her canines.

"Now hold it right there, miss." He held his index finger up. "We don't need things to get worse, do we?" He then gestured to an unknown figure.

Then out stepped Shadow the Hedgehog, holding the same rifle he used to tase Infinite and knock him out. Amara looked into his gaze; it was menacing, and for the first time in a while, she felt fearful.

"Shadow, thank you for providing us the asset." The commander remarked. "As promised…" The man then took out a red Chaos Emerald, tossing it to Shadow. "... here is your reward."

The commander then turned his attention to the jackals, and began to monologue.

"Now listen closely, you have two options: One, you can surrender your fallen leader to us and walk away safely. Then there's Two, where you stay behind and suffer the consequences."

"Infinite, leader of Jackal Squad, has committed a crime that cannot be forgiven. You will hand him over, and we will be on our way."

Amara stood up defiantly. "No chance you'll ever take him away! Not again!" The female lunged towards the man, but she was suddenly met with sharp electric jolts coursing through her. Amara tumbled to the ground in pain; tears appearing in her eyes.

"**Pathetic…**" the commander silently spoke.

Shadow was watching the events unfold, and he didn't like what he was seeing.

"Hey, you said you wouldn't bother about the rest. Why the hell are you seizing them?" Shadow asked, sternly.

The commander took notice of Shadow and scoffed. "Don't tell me that you are worried about these low-lives? Are you Shadow?" The commander asked rhetorically.

"Last time I checked, Infinite was the _only _target we had to obtain. Not his so called 'love interest' or his squad mates." Shadow retorted.

"Don't you even think of testing my patience, Agent Shadow…" the commander threatened, slowly reaching for his pistol in case of anything. "You got what you came for… now go."

Shadow gave a menacing look towards the commander. He felt like denting his skull right now.

_Another day, Shadow… another day… _he thought to himself, relaxing in the process.

The hedgehog turned his back, and walked away from the scene.

"Good riddance, I hate that black rat." The commander said, without Shadow hearing him. "Alright men, round up these pests… I believe they'll find themselves quite comfortable in prison…"

The rest of Jackal Squad did their best to fight back, but without a leader, they failed within minutes. Soon all of them were locked in shackles and knocked unconscious. Infinite, Amara, and the rest of the squad were thrown into the back of a dark van, and taken to a place called Prison Island.

_…_

Shadow was skating off through the snowy forest once more. He looked down to see the pulsating red Chaos Emerald in his hands. Did he really make the right choice by taking that shot? Was Maria right? The hedgehog shook his head back and forth in denial. Of course Maria was wrong, and he was right.

"_Shadow, your thoughts betray you…" _Maria's soft voice called out to him in his mind.

"Stay out of my brain… you're just a figment of my imagination." Shadow told himself.

"_You missed on purpose, Shadow, and you know it. You felt guilty for possibly taking away their love…"_

"DAMN IT, MARIA, GO AWAY!"

"_No."_

Shadow growled as he tried to get her out of his mind. He cared about her, yes, but she was dead. Her ideas, even if she was just a figment of his imagination, were meaningless.

Shadow came to a halt in the snow, and fell on his knees as a shot of cold went through his body. "I… can't… forgive…"

"_Then learn to forgive… forgive Infinite, despite everything that he's done… only then will he turn."_

Shadow raised a brow at that last part. "Wait, turn him? How?"

"_You'll find a way, Shadow. You always do…" _and then her voice disappeared within his mind.

Shadow relaxed his nerves. Slowly, he got off his knees and pushed himself up from the snowy terrain. He took a deep breath, and exhaled.

"I can't believe I'm doing this…"

Shadow then skated off into the opposite direction. His next destination: Prison Island.

_To be continued…_


	14. Sonic's Great Getaway

Author's Note: Please don't be mad, I wasn't procrastinating. I was just busy, that's all. With school and other things, it just kept me from writing. I apologize everyone. It's hard to believe though that it's already February. Not only that, the Sonic movie is just one week away from release! So I just felt the need to get this chapter out before the film was released.

I know some of you thought that this chapter would be focusing on Shadow breaking a group of bad guys out of prison, well yes but actually no. (That will be the next chapter.) So for this one I decided to just write about Sonic taking a nice little vacation on the beach, like I did while I was gone!

Oh I don't know if I told you all this, but Sonic and the entire cast are much older in this story. For example, Sonic is 20, Amy is 19, Tails and Illusien are both 18, and Shadow is ? (Other characters will be making their appearance soon!)

If you all have any questions or just want to share some ideas, PM me! Now enjoy the story!

* * *

_Saturday, 7:30 A.M_

***Beep Beep Beep***

Sonic's alarm clock beeped intensely, almost to the point of insanity. The blue hedgehog did his best to sleep in; even squeezing his eyes shut so he wouldn't wake up. But it was no use, the noise was just too much for him. In a fit of rage, Sonic forcefully grabbed the annoying clock and threw it at the wall; shattering the device.

Sonic breathed heavily for a few short moments, just before he sighed heavily in relief. "Well, that's one way to wake up in the morning…" He yawned, rubbing his eyes in order to wake up before looking outside his window to see the sun rising above the horizon. Sonic smiled as he gazed upon the beautiful sight. Unfortunately, he was hit with the realization that his alarm clock was completely destroyed.

Sonic rubbed the back of his head. "Looks like I'm gonna need a new clock… speaking of clocks, why did I even need that obnoxious alarm for anyway?" Sonic thought long and hard about it, and his eyes shot wide open when he came to a realization. "CRAP! I forgot that I'm heading to Emerald Beach for my getaway! And I'm gonna be late for my check-in!"

Sonic was in a rush, as always. He hurriedly threw all of his belongings and essentials in his duffle bag.

"Clothing? Nah. Shoes and gloves? Yeeeaaahh!"

When all was done, Sonic zipped up his bag and made a dash for the front door. But just before he could make it out the front door unnoticed, his brother Tails caught him in the act.

"So, where are you off to this time, Sonic?" Tails asked.

Sonic froze in place. He realized that he had been compromised and his secret vacation was a total no go. "_Quick Sonic, think of something… c'mon think!" _The blue blur turned his attention Tails, wearing a fake, nervous looking smile on his face. "H-hey buddy, I'm just uh… going on a solo camping trip!" Sonic replied to him.

Tails was surprised when Sonic mentioned a camping trip. "Really? Why would you not tell us about a camping trip Sonic? Me and Illusien would've been glad to join you."

"What?! Oh no way, you don't wanna come with me! I'm uh… sick! Yeah I'm sick and I need to go alone!"

"You want to go camping by yourself, in the wilderness, and you're sick..." Tails summed up in disbelief. "Just what makes you think that's a great idea?"

At this point, Sonic was sweating straight up waterfalls. With every second that was passing, Tails was beginning to see through the lie Sonic had just thrown at his brother's face. The blue hedgehog was done for…

"Hey Tails, what's all the commotion for?" Illusien asked as she slowly made her way down the stairs.

Tails immediately turned his attention to her, leaving Sonic wide open for escape. Tails could see that Illusien was wearing a beautiful nightgown that she had bought during her trip to the mall. "_Wow… she's so pretty, even early in the morning…"_ Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted as he heard a loud whoosh from behind him. Tails turned around, only to see Sonic had taken off.

"Uh, Tails, you alright?" She asked.

Tails snapped back to reality. "Oh, yeah! Sorry for not answering you the first time. It was just me and Sonic talking, that's all."

"Ohhh, but… where is Sonic anyway?"

Tails shrugged, shaking his head visibly. "Beats me. Sonic is always on the run, looking for something new to do everyday."

"Did Sonic tell you where you where he was going?" Illusien asked once more.

"Actually, now that you mention it, no he didn't. But he did say he was going camping all by himself." Tails replied.

Illusien wore visible confusion on her face. "Why would he go by himself? He should've brought us too! I would've loved to go camping with you!"

Tails laughed a bit, slightly embarrassed by her comment. "That's what I said too!" The two foxes continued to laugh for a few minutes, and then settled down to think of what to do next with their day.

"So… what do you want to do today, Tails?" Illusien asked with curiosity.

…

"Woohoo! I'm home free baby!" Sonic shouted at the top of his lungs as he made his way towards Emerald Coast. Sonic couldn't wait to get to the beach. Sure he's been there on a few occasions during his runs, but he never gave himself the chance to truly relax. Oddly enough, Sonic wasn't the type of hedgehog who would sit around. Even if it was for a single minute, Sonic would always be on the move; searching for a new adventure.

But today was going to be different…

Finally, Sonic had reached Emerald Coast Resort. He skidded to a stop, and breathed in all of the fresh air.

"Ahhh… nothing more refreshing than clean air and the sights and sounds of the clear blue sea." Sonic turned his attention to the nearby resort just on the edge of the sandy beach. "Right, I better get checked in then." When Sonic walked through the revolving doors, he was astonished by how amazing the interior of the place was. The walls and the ceiling were made out of pure marble, small but critical details were carved into the pillars and ledges, and even the floor was entirely made of red carpet. But the coolest sight was when he spotted the giant, crystal chandelier hanging above the hotel lobby.

"Whoa… now that's fancy." Sonic awed as he stared at the ceiling.

"Uh, excuse me, can I help you sir?" A female voice called out to him.

Sonic stopped what he was doing and looked for the voice that was speaking to him. At the front desk, he could see that a human woman was trying to get his attention. Immediately, Sonic ran to the front desk.

"Hey lady, what's up? I'm here to check into this sweet looking place." Sonic casually said to the lady. "Nice smile." He added.

"You're too kind, Mr. Sonic!" She cheerfully replied. "Just let me get your name into the system and… great! You're all set and ready to head up to your room!"

The desk lady handed Sonic his key card; the hedgehog eagerly snatching them from her fingers.

"Thanks, Miss!" Sonic said, winking and speeding off to his room.

…

"Let's see… room 173… room 177, ah here we go! Room 179!" Sonic walked up the door and inserted the card into the key. The light on the lock turned green, and Sonic entered. "Please be a king sized bed… please be a king sized bed…" He turned in hopeful expectation to the room's bed. "YES! Thank you!" Sonic happily chanted; jumping onto the soft and fluffy bed. "Ahh… I needed this so bad…" As Sonic started to sink into the mattress, another idea popped into his head.

Sonic jolted upwards. "I'm totally missing out on the beach! I better get a move on!" Sonic left his bag behind and ran out of his room; not even bothering to bring anything. (No, Sonic will not swim. He hates water. But he likes the sand though.)

…

It was just a beautiful day. The sun was shining, seagulls were gawking, and Sonic was chilling underneath his beach umbrella; drinking his coke and snacking on a chili dog. He took a deep breath of fresh air, and exhaled as he contemplated his current situation.

"Man it's nice to get away from all of that commotion. All of that 'being dragged around stuff' was really just a pain in the tail." Sonic put down his drink and continued to talk to himself. "Well, all I can say now is that I'm alone and that there is nothing whatsoever that can ruin this perfect day."

_It wasn't meant to be, Sonic…_

"Ohhh Sonic!?" A familiar high pitched voice called out. Sonic suddenly felt a sharp pain in his gut. He already knew who the voice was and **not** even the slightest amount pleased. In fact, he was now depressed.

"_You've got to be kidding me…" _Sonic muttered under his breath.

Then Amy spotted her favorite blue hedgehog under his umbrella and jogged over to him. "Oh Sonic, I'm so happy that you're staying at the same hotel as me!" She gave him a big warm hug, just to make sure he got the message. Sonic got the message alright, and he felt like crying at that very moment.

"Well Sonic, aren't you happy to see me?!" Amy asked, sitting down on another nearby chair, right next to Sonic.

"Wow Amy, that's so… great." He flatly replied. "W-why are you even here at the resort anyway?"

"Oh you know me, Sonic. A girl always needs to get some sun every now and then!" Amy answered, winking at him. "Oh, that reminds me: I want you to tell me how this looks on me."

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Look at what now?"

Amy took off her cover-up, revealing an elegant bikini underneath. And of course, it was pink.

"So… what do you think of it, Sonic?" She asked him slyly.

"..." Sonic was at a loss of words. The way Amy looked… It was so… alluring. Despite her being annoying, she really did have good looks. He was about to speak out freely, but immediately covered his mouth. _No! _He mentally thought to himself. _I won't say anything to boost her ego. _Sonic took a second look at her. _God she's so pretty… heck I could kiss her. _he thought. _No! Stop it brain! Don't do me like that! AHHH! _Sonic was now visibly grabbing and shaking his head in front of Amy. She looked at him, wondering why in the world he was acting so weird.

"Uhh Sonic, are you feeling okay?" She asked with concern. Sonic immediately stopped what he was doing and put on a fake smile.

"Huh? Oh, yeah Amy, I think your outfit is okay." He said; unfortunately, that answer didn't fly so well with Amy.

"OKAY!?" She repeated angrily, stomping her feet in the sand. "I spent hours trying to find the perfect bikini, hoping you would like it, and all you think is that it's just okay?!" Amy grew even angrier when she spotted Sonic yawning in front of her as she ranted. "Alright that's it! It's hammer time!" She pulled out her Piko-Piko hammer from out of nowhere, and began to threaten Sonic.

"Yo, Amy! Chill chill, I wasn't trying to be mean or anything!" Sonic scrambled to say. But it was too late. Amy slammed the face of the hammer right on top of Sonic's head. Sonic was left on the ground, groaning in pain as he felt a large lump on his head.

"Hmpf, serves you right for disregarding my beautiful outfit." Amy remarked.

"You could've been a bit gentler with your swing at least… owwww…" Sonic said as he groaned in pain, rubbing the spot where he was hit.

"Now say you're sorry." Amy ordered.

"WHAT?!" Sonic scrambled to his feet. "What makes you think I should apologize?! You were the one who hit me in the head with a hammer, you know!"

"I was trying to look pretty for you and you just totally ignored me!" Amy was fuming at Sonic. "You always do this to me and it's no fair!"

"Grr… jeez Amy, can't a hedgehog like me get some time alone for crying out loud?! Yeesh…" Sonic sat back in his beach chair and continued to drink out of his coke bottle. He looked back at Amy to see if she had left, but instead saw that she wore a sad look on her face and stared at the ground. Sonic sighed heavily, and decided to apologize.

"Look Ames, I'm sorry if I was harsh on ya. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings and all." Sonic briefly said.

On cue, Amy looked at him with pure joy written all over her face. She squealed in happiness and embraced the blue hero. "Ohhh, Sonic! All is forgiven!" She cried out, continuing to hug him.

"Hey Amy, cut that out!" Sonic shouted as he tried to pry the pink hedgehog off of him. Once he managed to, relaxed and continued to enjoy his free time. Of course, Amy wasn't going to leave right away. She took a seat right next to him and continued to talk away.

"So…. what brings you here to the resort anyway, Sonic?" Amy asked curiously. "Was it instinct? Fate? Or could it be that our love is so powerful that-"

"Whoa whoa, easy with the questions Ames." Sonic told her. "The only reason I'm here is to just get away from things, that's all." Sonic shut his eyes, hoping he could just pass out or something.

"What kind of things?"

Sonic opened one of his eyes, looking at her with annoyance. "It's nothing for you to worry about, that's for sure."

"IT'S MY JOB TO BE WORRIED ABOUT YOU SONIC SO YOU BETTER TELL ME RIGHT NOW!" She yelled at him fiercely.

"Ok ok! It was just those two foxes back at home. They were driving me crazy!"

"Wait- you mean Tails and Illusien?" Amy asked. "What trouble would those two cause?"

"Oh if you were in my shoes, Amy… you would perfectly understand why." Sonic said, cringing at the thought of all the things he was forced to do with them. "_So many uncool things…"_

Sonic shook his head to get the idea out of his mind, and then decided to spark a new conversation.

"Hey listen Ames, why don't you go ahead and go for a swim. I'm gonna get some sleep anyways."

"Sleep? On this beautiful day? Come on Sonic, let's go together!" She grabbed onto his hands and pulled him up from his chair. Almost immediately, Sonic put on dead weight the moment he realized the woman was dragging him to the edge of the beach; where all the water was.

"Amy! You know I can't swim!"

"Oh don't worry, that's why I'll hold onto you. You know, for safety!" Amy giggled.

Sonic rolled his eyes. "_Oh what I'd do right now to be back home with those two foxes again…" _Sonic thought, wishing he would've never come on this weekend trip.

_Meanwhile, back at Tails' Place…_

"Ha! I just used my +4 wildcard! Now you have to draw four extra cards and play the same color I chose."

Tails was playing a card game, Uno, with Illusien and so far, he was dominating.

"Aww, that's no fair!" Illusien whined. "You only have three cards left and I have twelve."

"What can I say? I only learned the best strats from Sonic." Tails gloated.

"Speaking of Sonic, Tails, you think he was justified to leave us so he could go to a resort by himself? Including the fact that he also lied about being sick? " Illusien asked.

"Oh don't worry Illusien, Sonic needed it anyways. Besides, I told Amy that he was going there this weekend, so that should give us plenty of extra time to enjoy each other's company!" Tails laughed. "Now come on, let's keep playing!"

_To be continued…_


End file.
